


I Only Speak For You

by fineandwittie



Series: Shattered Hearts, Twisted Mirrors [3]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: A Big Fat Gay Wedding, FrostIron - Freeform, M/M, Norse Mythology - Freeform, WIP, intergalactic politics, mentions of torture, some dark shit gonna be happening
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-09
Updated: 2012-06-24
Packaged: 2017-11-07 09:31:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/429491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fineandwittie/pseuds/fineandwittie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and Loki are in the middle of their Big, Fat, Gay Wedding, when an unexpected series of unwelcome visitors interrupt the festivities. Will Tony’s devotion to Loki survive what the Nine Realms seem to want to throw their way? Will the Nine Realms survive Tony's devotion to Loki (and its reverse)? </p><p>All Tony really wants to do is Honeymoon (by which he means shut himself up with Loki somewhere and fuck like bunnies). Is that too much to ask?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to The Words I Cannot Speak. This one will be beta'd even though the first chapter is not :D
> 
> So, all my love to Mantra, who is acting Beta here :D You can find Mantra over on tumblr: http://gabes-massive-cock.tumblr.com/
> 
> I own nothing. Don't sue me. If i owned this would I be writing fanfiction? i highly doubt it.

Neither of them wore white, but really no one expected them too. The idea of Tony is white was enough to send anyone into hysterics and Loki claimed the color washed him out. He was right of course, though no one told him that. 

Instead Tony wore pale blue, which was basically his way of thumbing his nose at everyone who’d laughed at the white suit. Blue was the color of purity before Queen Victoria decided to be ‘frugal’. Loki, unsurprisingly wore green. Technically, Loki wore his armor, which was green and black and gold, but whatever. The armor thing, which did not bother Tony in the slightest even if it did put half the world on edge, was an Aesir tradition. Since they were observing so few of those, Loki had insisted. 

Other than the clothing the two grooms had almost no input into the wedding at all. Pepper arranged the transport for everyone attending and she’d arranged for a preacher to come out for it. They were having the wedding ceremony on the beach at the house in Malibu. Immediately before the ceremony, Tony, Loki, and the Avengers were taking a quick flight back to New York to make it official. After which they’d return for the wedding and the party afterwards. Tony did not ask whose brilliant idea that was. Actually, he didn’t ask about any of it. He just wrote his vows and showed up when and where he was supposed to.

Natasha, surprisingly, had picked the color scheme. Bruce had arranged for a caterer and managed to convince both AC/DC and Black Sabbath to do sets. Steve was doing all the heavy lifting and guinea-pigging, tasting food and things. Pepper and Director Fury had arranged the guest list together. Fury took the political side and Pepper the popular side. Everyone who was anyone would be there. Not in a ‘This is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s wedding all the celebrities have to go’ kind of way, but more in a ‘this man privatized world peace and created the only self-sustaining clean energy source ever and he also protects the planet from supervillians there is no way you can risk offending him’ kind of way. The freaking Queen of England herself was flying out for this, as were both Princes and Kate Middleton. All the A-list actors were going to be there, including Robert Downey Jr. and Halle Berry and Judi Dench and Michael Cane and just everyone. The list made Tony’s head spin and Loki even recognized several names from watching CNN.

The preparations took months. Much longer than either groom preferred, but they relinquish complete control to appease Pepper and Natasha (and Steve, though he would deny it with his dying breath) for not telling them about the engagement. 

The one thing they were allowed to do was pick their own rings, two simple platinum bands. He’d had the inside inscribed with a single of Norse that Loki promised meant: Together through eternity. 

The act day itself passed in a complete blur for the two grooms. Neither really paid much attention to what was going on. Tony’s entire focus was on the vows and he waited impatiently for that part of the ceremony to arrive. Finally, Finally, just when Tony thought he might start climbing the walls, the preacher looked to him and it was time.

Tony smiled broadly. “Well, I’m totally determined today to destroy any kind of reputation I have left so completely that no one will remember it existed.” Loki smirked. “What reputations you may ask? Well, world-class man-slut comes to mind. And then there’s the heartless bastard one. To the first, Loki, you have certainly made me a one-person-man. I fully intend to spend the rest of my unnatural life proving it to you. As to the other, it’s still true in a manner of speaking. I don’t have a heart, not in here.” He tapped the arc reactor. Loki was frowning at him. “Pepper likes to think that the arc reactor is proof that I do have one. Not true. If any such proof exists, it’s you. At the risk of sounding utterly cliché, my heart was removed from my chest a long time ago. I’d miss placed it for a while. Years in fact, but it appeared in my workroom one day, sort of out of the blue. In my heart’s absence, it’s had changed shape. Now, it’s Loki shaped and it won’t fit back were it used to go, so you better take care.” Tony reached up and cupped Loki’s face; the god had tears glistening in his eyes. “It’s a little damaged, pained maybe, but two sets of hands to hold it will make sure that it has time to heal. My heart also came back in the guise of the best man I’ve ever met. Clever enough to stay two steps ahead of all my shit, intelligent enough to talk me in circles, and let’s face it people. That’s hard to do.” The audience chuckled wetly. “And so beautiful, it’s sometimes hard to look. Loki, I honestly can imagine ever living without you. Not to freak anybody out, but I don’t think I’d fair to well it you make me try. I think I’d get itchy fingers to see the inside of the arc reactor. So, lover, don’t make me try. Stay with me forever an I’ll try to be worth it.” He ran a thumb over Loki’s sharp cheekbone and smiled, not the wide bright thing he used for parties and the media, but soft and secret, a smile only for Loki. “Loki, I’m marrying you today. You. Every beautiful inch of you, exactly how you really are. I wanted everyone to see who it is I’m marrying. Can you do that for me? Just for today? Just for a couple hours?”

Loki’s eyes went wide and he glanced at the crowd. “After I speak, I will do that for you.”

Tony nodded. Loki smiled, just an upturn of the corners of his mouth. “Tony…” When he spoke it was in Old Norse. Darcy appeared to be the only person in the audience who could understand what he was saying. As for his groom, Loki had cast a spell that allowed Tony to understand without having to learn. “You are right, Tony. I am damaged. I am broken, missing pieces. I’ve been shattered and I do not know if I can ever find all the scattered parts. Inside, I found you. You filled the holes inside of me left by other people and I think perhaps, with you, I do not need what I have left behind. I do not want to search any longer. I have found my greatest missing part. You said that I am your heart now. Well, it is fitting then that you are mine. Together, we hold one heart between us; we share it. I can no more break it or be careless of it, than I could do of my own body. And yet, your heart is more precious to me. I have given you the apple. There is no greater sign that I can offer of my…love for you. The golden apple and its promise of immortality. It gives me the chance to make up for my hate and the destruction I have wrought with love and creation. We will be together, you and I, for all time.” Loki leaned forward and into Tony’s ear, he whispered, “And I will give you children if you wish it, and we will be a family.”

Tony, who somehow managed to keep his composure through that heartrending little speech, jerked and tears filled his eyes. “Well, fuck. I promised Pepper I wouldn’t cry and ruin the make-up.” He managed to choke out, trying to shake the tears away. Loki smiled indulgently at him and everyone laughed.

Loki opened his mouth to continue, but a voice from the back of the crowd stopped them. “You claim love, Loki Laufeyson, but does the mortal know the monster that you are? And you, Man of Iron, you claim to love him in return. Do you know the creature hiding inside that pretty skin? If you did, would you still practice your deviance for all the worlds to see?”

A woman stood and came forward up the center isle. Tony was scowling now. Darcy leapt to her feet. “I know that voice! That’s one of Thor’s posse.”

Tony gestured for her to sit. “The Lady Sif, I presume. How unlovely to meet you. Why are you interrupting our wedding?”

The woman snapped her fingers. Tony stiffened and glanced around. Nothing at had changed. He glanced at Loki in question and discovered what she’d done. Loki’s skin was turn blue and his eyes red. The clench of his jaw told Tony that he could feel it happen. Turning his back on Sif, Tony once again reached up to run a gentle thumb over Loki’s cheek. “Hey, Lover.” Loki reluctantly turned to Tony. “I love you. You’re a work of art.”

Some of the tension seeped out of Loki, until a voice call from the audience, “What’s with the avatar look? You’re not telling me he looks that freakish normally!”

Tony spun, eyes dark with anger and teeth bared in a snarl. “George, just because you’re in a crowd, don’t think I can’t tell it’s you, you fucker. The next person who makes a derogatory statement about my husband because of the color of his skin will be forcibly ejected. I don’t care who the fuck it is or what kind of international incident it will cause. Got that?” There was not a single sound from the assemble crowd. “Good.” He turned back to Sif. “Now, what the fuck do you want, interrupting our wedding and being a racist, homophobic bitch?”

Loki raised an eyebrow at him, the pain receding from his red eyes. Sif stiffened. “You would speak such to an embassador from Asgard?”

The snarl did not fade. “I would speak such to anybody whose talked to me like you have, bitch. I do not like being called a deviant for loving someone. I do not like it when you force someone I love to do something they do want to do. I know what you’ve done, Sif. I know who you are. You think I’m deviant? You’re a sick sadistic fuck.”

She drew herself up, indignation clear in her body language, and took several steps forward, until she was standing at the bottom of the platform that they stood on. “I? I am sick? Do you know the things that your…toy has done? Do you know the atrocities he has commited? I merely bring justice and—“

“You don’t know a fucking thing about justice, Sif. You and all of your people wouldn’t know what justice is if it came up behind them and raped them up the ass. What you know is torture and cruelty. Sadistic pleasure in the giving of pain. What you don’t know is compassion. Justice and equality. Freedom. A few things that we’re kind of fond of down here on Midgard. I know exactly what Loki has and hasn’t done and I know what drove him. Probably better than most. And certainly better than anyone on Asgard.” Tony stepped forward away from Loki. “Listen to me, you sick bitch. If you or any of the Warriors Three turn up here. Meaning on Midgard. I’m going to regard that as an act of war. You got that? Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Clint? You guys, got that? Sif, I don’t think you want to go a round with the Avengers. Loki tried it once. So did Thor. Guess what? Both of them lost. In fact, why don’t you scurry on home and ask Thor exactly what happens when you piss me the fuck off.”

“I was sent to bring Loki back to Asgard. The Allfather requests—”

“Well, fuck that. Loki, you want to go back?” Loki shook his head, narrowing his eyes at Sif. She shuddered. “Good. He doesn’t fancy a trip back to that sack of shit planet. So guess what? He’s not going. You want to try to take him? You’re going to have to go through me.”

“And me.” Steve stood.

“Us too.” Natasha, Bruce, Clint, Pepper, Jane, and Darcy all stood. 

Tony raised an eyebrow at them, but smiled. The smile was not at all comforting. “So. You want to push your fucking luck here? Act. Of. War. Now go the fuck home and tell your…mewling quim of a king that he can take his ‘requests’ and fuck himself with them. Now, get out.”

Sif narrowed her eyes, but vanished. Loki’s face was a twisted mess of confusion, fear, and hatred. “Loki, lover…”

“Tony, she should not have magic. She’s never had magic before, not on this scale.”

Tony shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care. She’s a bitch and if she comes back I will personally see her hang, yeah? Good.” He turned to the audience. “I know there are several major heads of state here and all that kind of rot. That woman who just vanished. She and three companions have committed what amounts to crimes against humanity on behalf of Odin’s government. I have concrete proof. I’d really like not to have to use it. Actually, what I’d really like is to kill her myself, but you don’t always get what you want.”

Tony took a deep breath. The assembly was still entirely still. He forced a smile and turned back to Loki. “Right. Well. Where were w—“

A thick fork of lightening split the sky and the following thunder immediately cut off Tony’s words. He sighed. “Well, fuck. I knew we should have eloped.”


	2. Chapter 2

As the thunder grew louder, Tony turned to the preacher and raised an eyebrow. “You may kiss the…uh, groom.”

Tony snorted. He turned to Loki and, reaching up, he slipped a hand behind his neck to pull him down for a kiss. Tony ignored the slight chill of the taller man’s skin and made the kiss as lewd as Loki would allow. When Thor finally dropped from the air and smashed into the sand in front of their platform, they were still kissing. The audience was watching, half in wide-eyed fascination and half in all consuming lust. Neither Tony nor Loki too any notice of this however. 

“Brother!”

Tony literally ripped himself away from Loki and spun on the blond Aesir. “You do not get to call him that, you fuckwit.”

The audience went still, mostly in shock. The Avengers held their collective breath and waited.

Thor straightened in indignation and opened his mouth to speak, but Tony beat him to it. “Hey, how’s Jane been? Oh that’s right. She hasn’t. But she is here. At Loki’s wedding. To me. Another man.” His words were harsh and bitten off, as though he wanted to say so much more and was just barely managing to get this out. 

Being Tony, he could have gone on for hours, but Loki placed a hand on his shoulder. He gave that odd head-jerk, that really still reminded Tony of that Harry Potter kid, and his skin faded back to Aesir pale. Loki’s voice, when he spoke, was colder even than his Jotun skin. “Thor, I am not your brother. I am not Odin’s son. I am not of the same race. I was not even born on the same planet. What part of this are you continually unable to comprehend?”

“Loki, we were raised as brothers. We played and fought side by side. How can you discount a thousand years of brotherhood?”

Pepper stood from her place in the audience. “Thor, did you ever think that calling him brother is just a constant reminder of what he lost when he found out that he was from Jotunheim?”

Loki stiffened. “Thank you, Lady Potts, but I do believe this is not your business.”

Tony sighed and glanced at Pepper. She blinked looking hurt and a little confused. She looked to Tony, who indicated the very large crowd of people she’d just said that in front of. Her eyes went wide. Her mouth formed a little ‘O’ and she sunk back into her seat.

“Br…Loki. I do not wish to cause you pain.” Thor hung his head.

Loki snorted. “Thor, you cause me pain by existing. What is it you want here? Have you come to carry out the little mission your lackey could not?”

Thor furrowed his brow. “What are you talking of?”

Tony frowned, his eyes narrowed. “Sif. She was hear just moments ago. She demanded Loki accompany her back to Asgard by order of the Allfather.”

“Sif? What?”

Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Loki frowned for a moment, opening his mouth, before realization spread over his face. “I understood that reference. You do not often quote Shakespeare, Tony.”

That startled a laugh from the engineer. He shook his head and turned narrowed eyes on Thor. There was a beat of silence. “Hey, you lot. Looks like that’s it for us. We kissed and now we’re stuck with each other for eternity. Guess what? That means double the trouble for anyone who understand how I function on a daily basis.” There was a loud burst of laughter at that. “So, you fun and fancy free people can all head up to the house. There are various kinds of things to do in various places. We’ll be up shortly. Enjoy the party. Pepper and Natasha organized it. It’s either going to be the most rocking party you’ve ever been to or you’re going to pretend it is, because trust me on this, you do not want to piss either of these women off. So off you trot.”

He shooed them with his hands and motioned the Avengers and company up onto the platform. Loki was busy thanking the minister and inviting him to join the party back at the house. 

“Thor, you are honestly, wear on your fucking hammer, telling me that you had no idea that Sif was down here, attempting to take Loki back to Asgard?”

Thor held up the hammer and placed a fist across his chest. “I swear this is truth. I knew not that Lady Sif was here nor for what purpose she might make such a trip.”

Tony ran a nervous hand over his goatee, a gesture Loki remembered from exactly twice before. Once from while they were still in the helicarrier and he was in the thrall of the Tesseract. He’d inserted himself into their video feed for a chance to see each of the Avengers without their knowledge. The Second time was before the last battle they’d had against Kang. Loki had offered his assistance, in an effort to bolster his position in the public eye (and to keep Tony safe, but he would never admit to that…especially not to Tony). It was a gesture that boded ill for all involved. 

Natasha’s face had shut down, another clear sign that trouble was brewing. Pepper was frowning and so was Steve. “Is there insubordination in the ranks, then?”

Tony snorted. “You’d better pray to God that it’s only insubordination. This sounds vastly more sinister. First, she and the Warriors Three torture Loki for months without Thor’s order. We still don’t know if it was on the Allfather’s order or not. Now this? And Sif suddenly has magic she didn’t have before? There is definitely something rotten here.” He was scowling now and watching Loki warily. 

Natasha was watching Loki as well. Clint just looked bored. The archer sighed. “Well fuck. Sounds like we gotta go to Asgard. This is going to cut into my tanning time. Couldn’t you have had your little political disaster in the winter?”

Natasha snorted. “You could stay home. Some of us will have to, just in case Kang makes a repeat appearance or Dr. Doom or whomever.”

Bruce raised a hand. “I’ll stay. We still don’t know what the alien atmosphere and the bifrost will do to the other guy.”

Tony’s brow went skyward and he point a finger at Bruce. “The green man has a point. Yes. So does Natasha. As much as Brucie here is a one man army, he’s going to need backup.”

Natasha chewed her lip. “You’re not going to like this, but I think Cap and Clint should stay as well.”

Both men squawked at that. “Why?!”

She scowled at them. “Clint, you just complained about going. Anyway, you’re the best aerial in a fight and chances are we won’t be doing any fighting, especially fighting around really tall buildings. Cap, the other guy listens to you best. And you’re the best coordinator, which you’ll need because chances are Fury’s going to call in Spiderman or some other lame bullshit. Also, no offense meant, but you’re still adjusting to now. Imagine being thrown back a thousand years.”

Steve raised his hands in wry surrender. “Yeah. Yeah. True enough, I suppose. Do you really think he’ll call in Parker? That kid is so annoying.”

Tony affected an astonished look. “Steven! Saying something bad about someone? Disliking someone? I’m utterly shocked!”

“WAIT!” Loki’s voice was not a shout, but it cut through the conversation just as effectively. “What are you talking about?”

“Loki, lover, you do not need me to explain this to you. I know you don’t.” Loki glared at Tony for several minutes before the smaller man sighed. “You understand why we have to go. There is information here we need. Loki, your life is in danger, your freedom, your sanity is at stake here. I won’t let them do…that to you again. There is literally nothing I will not do for you. We need to know who is behind these odd mismatched, but apparently half-successful attempts to keep you captive and to torture you. We need to know who, and why, and how. We need to stop them. I do not trust this oafish fuckwit over here to the job correctly. Natasha can get any information she wants from anyone at all. We need to go there to get this. And I would dearly love to give Odin a tip or two on practical parenting, because he is an intergalactic fuck-up.”

Loki laughed, a short and bitter sound. “You wish to…keep me safe, yes? By taking me back to…the place where I was held? You wish to walk with me into the lions’ den?”

Tony smiled sadly. “Love, you don’t have to come. Honestly, I would never take you anywhere. I would force you to go back there. Natasha, Thor, and I can go on our own. You stay at the Tower, if you want. Or here. Or in Dubai. Or—“

“Do you take me for a coward, Tony Stark?” His voice dropped to a hiss and everyone, but Tony, took two steps back. “Do you think so little of me, then?”

Tony raised an eyebrow and simply looked at him for several long moments. “Fear is not cowardice. Loki, we’ve had this discussion. I understand what you are going through. I would never in a million fucking years want to go back to the hellhole I was trapped in for three months. You were trapped and tortured for double that long and in worse conditions too. I get it. I do. It’s not cowardice.”

Loki swallowed thickly and turned away to pace. No one spoke. Those of the group who were not Tony held as still as they could and merely watched. Thor looked utterly fascinated. 

“Mere excuses. You seek an out for the cowardice that you assign to me and then rename it as something else. I am not a child, Stark, and I am not someone to manipulate.”

Tony painted a look of understanding on his face. “Ah, so that’s what this is about.”

Loki frowned and stopped pacing. “What are you talking about?”

“This isn’t about cowardice and it isn’t about what I think of you. It’s about what you think of me. You think I’m not a man of my word. You think I’m trying to manipulate you into doing something you don’t want to do. What promise do you think I’m breaking? I gave you my word months ago I would never try to manipulate you the way you’re suggesting. So what makes you think I’m breaking that promise? What’s the deeper issue here, Loki?” 

Loki shuddered. “You do not know what you ask of me.”

Tony’s half-smile was sad. He moved until he was standing directly in front of the Norse god, forcing him to meet Tony’s gaze. “I think I know more than anybody, but you what I’m asking you to do, Loki. I understand the fear and the pain and the terror and the bitter taste of bile in the back of your throat. Most of all, I get the horrifying thought that just won’t seem to go away. It’s all a dream and I’m still there, that you know can’t be true, but sometimes you think it anyway. And the second, more persistent one, that if you get anywhere near that place or the people that they’ll get you again. They’ll take you and lock you up and the pain won’t ever stop next time and no one will care and maybe they won’t even notice you’re gone and maybe, possibly, maybe you deserve it and maybe it’ll help you atone for all the life you’ve taken, all the destruct that you wrought and that was done as a result of you. Loki, I understand.” Loki choked on a sob and dropped to his knees. 

His arms went around Tony’ waist and he buried his face in the engineer’s stomach. Tony reached up with shaking fingers and brushed his hands through Loki’s hair. It was a soothing gesture that had worked during Loki’s early panic attacks. The ones that came at night in the beginning, before they’d shared a bed. Tony would hear the harsh shout or the panicked shriek that would be Loki waking from the night terror that had silently gripped him. Tony would run, flat out, down the stairs and into the room he’d given Loki, who slept with the door wide open. Tony would gather Loki into his arms and run a hand through his hair. As the terror slowly subsided and Loki began to speak.

Now, though, there were half-a-dozen or so faces watching them. Pepper was weeping silently, having recognized the emotions and circumstances of his little diatribe. Tony wasn’t sure she even realized that her tears had spilled over and were running down her cheeks, passed her sad smile. Her expression brought up his first glimpse of her after his escape, on that tarmac. She’d had red-rimmed eyes and a broken smile then too. Natasha’s eyes held recognition, but her face, like Clint’s, was carefully blank. Steve and Bruce had both averted their eyes. The girls were watching avidly, much less familiar with Loki and his relationship and looking like they might start cooing at any moment. He flipped them the bird. Thor was gaping.

“Loki…” Tony dropped to his knees as well. He curled a finger under Loki’s chin and brought his face up. Loki’s eyes were bloodshot now, but he hadn’t been crying because they weren’t puffy. “You do not have to do this.”

Loki’s laugh was bitter and resigned. It pained Tony. “Tony, you know I do. I…I apologize for…It was…”

Tony grinned ruefully. “Yeah. I get it. It’s fine. No skin off my nose.”

Loki frowned. “What?”

Tony chuckled. “Never mind. You okay now?”

Loki offered him a tired smirk. “I would be if I could wipe this moment from all of their memories.”

Tony tried to look stern. “We talked about this, Lover. No memory wiping.”

Loki sighed and Tony allowed himself to relax. They’d be fine. All they had to do after all was suss out the working of Aesir politics, while protecting Loki and attempting to discover a possible plot over undermine Thor as Prince and heir. No biggie.

Right.


	3. Chapter 3

It took three full days to get everything in order for the trip to Asgard, discounting the remainder of the wedding day, which was spent placating guests. One of those days, an entire one, was spent convincing Fury to put his stamp on it. Tony even got to ‘meet’ the infamous Council, if you call talking to a bunch of dark screens that talked back meeting. Regardless, they finally managed to get the green light from all parties concerned. The longer it took, the worse Loki looked. He shut down, emotionally, and his expression was entirely blank almost all the time. He’d also retreated from his and Tony’s bed to the room he’d originally occupied.

Finally the night before their departure, Tony cornered him in the living room. “Loki, lover, I saw more of you before we got married than I do now that I’m your husband. Why is that?”

Loki’s expression didn’t change. He continued to gaze out at the city with a dead sort of longing. “I am quite sure you have been very busy, Tony. I saw no need to be in your way.”

Tony sighed and came up behind him. He wrapped his arms around the Norse god’s waist and settled in. “Loki, you’re never in my way. I will never not want you with me. I realize that you’re freaked out over the trip to Asgard tomorrow, but you’re not alone anymore. You’ve got me.” He grinned into Loki’s button-down. “And really, what more could you want?”

This did not produce the expected snort. It made Loki stiffen. Chilled hands came up to grasp Tony’s wrists. “Nothing.” His voice was little more than a breath. “I want nothing more than I have right in this moment. But how much longer will I have it? Any of it? I will be back in Asgard. They will try to take me and I have been so long out of practice in the kinds of magic and the…emotional detachment required to deal with it that I do not know whether I will be able to stop it.”

Tony tightened his grip. “Bullshit. That’s bullshit, Loki, and you know it. You’re the strongest magician I’ve ever encountered and you are perfectly capable of taking on whoever comes your way. And there’s the little fact that you keep overlooking. I dunno if you ignoring it on purpose, or if it honestly hasn’t occurred to you, but…” Tony released him and came around to look Loki in the eye. “Loki, you aren’t going as a war criminal this time. You aren’t going back in custody. You are going back as part of an ambassadorial envoy. You have the protection of Earth and anyone with half a brain would think twice about trying to take you. It would cause an intergalactic incident. You’re the husband of one of the most prominent men in the world. You’re a member of the Avengers now, not officially, but as good as. You fight with us. You’re one of us. And more importantly, you’re mine. I don’t share and I don’t take it very well when people try to take what’s mine.” Loki was frowning at him, but not in anger. Tony couldn’t really place it. “I’m going to find out what’s going on and then I’m going to put on the suit and rip Sif limb from limb. I’d love to do it with my bare hands, but even the golden apples couldn’t improve me that much. The people who are responsible here are going to die, damn it. And Odin is going to get himself ripped a new one, if I have anything to say about it. And I do, since I’m in charge of this hotdog stand.”

“You’re what?” Now, the frown was confusion. 

“Er…never mind. Maybe I’ll explain that one to you later. Point is. My trip, my say-so. I’m in charge of the group going.” Tony’s voice was tight and his words were clipped.

Loki shook his head. “That is a terrifying prospect, Tony. You in charge of anything that doesn’t require engineering.”

Tony looked smug. “At least you concede that I can be in charge of building stuff.”

“That prospect is mildly less disconcerting, I will grant you that.”

Tony grinned. “Works for me.” He eyed his husband (! He still hadn’t gotten used to that and he wasn’t sure he would). “You alright with this? Really? Enough to actually go?”

Loki consciously loosened his coiled muscles and relaxed. “Kindly do not split your infinitives. It is grating on the ear.”

Tony grinned, warm and wide. “There we go. If you’re complaining about my grammar, you’re back to normal. I like you normal. Uptight was getting a little worrying. I’m supposed to be the moody, infuriating, sullen one in this relationship.”

Loki snorted. “Indeed. Well, I will certainly cease and allow you to get back to that.”

Tony linked their fingers and glanced up at Loki. “Come to bed, then?”

Loki blinked and hesitated. He exhaled slowly. “Yes.”

Tony figured, with a response like that, they would be taking it slow and gentle, tender and as loving as possible. He figured wrong. Loki fucked up hard and fast he possibly could without causing damage. He pulled out, slumped over Tony’s back, and waited much too short a length of time before demanding that he be taken the same way. When Tony was drifting off to sleep a while later, Loki pressed a kiss to the arc reactor and murmured, “Now, when you move tomorrow, you will feel me and know that we belong to each other, and maybe you will succeed where everyone else in this life has failed.”

*****

The bifrost was an experience that Tony would happily forgo for the rest of his life, natural or not. He fought the bile down and shot a glance at Natasha, the only other one who’d never taken the damn thing before. Her mouth was pinched and her eyes narrowed, the only sighs that she’d been affected. 

On the edge of the bridge that led to the bifrost, four horses stood, taller than any Tony had ever seen. He sighed. Aesir men were huge, why not their horses too? He’d definitely need a leg up. Well fuck all if that wasn’t embarrassing. Loki smirked when he noticed the look on Tony’s face, which was the most positive reaction Tony had managed to garner from him so far that day. Tony offered up his embarrassment to his own personal God of Lies.

After he was actually mounted on the horse, Tony turned his attention to the bridge…thing…that would take them to the city. It was…like…nothing Tony had ever seen before. Like space, condensed and solidified. “I want some.” 

Everyone paused and looked at him. Loki raised an eyebrow. “You want some what?”

Tony blinked. “Hadn’t realized I said that out loud. Some of the stuff this bridge is made from. I want it. It looks like space. I want to build a suit from the stuff. I could literally build a space suit!” He giggled just a little.

Natasha heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Stark, stop being a toddler. Grow up; we’re here for a purpose.”

Tony shrugged. “Eh. Still say that stuff is awesome.”

The actual bridge looked awesome, but Tony quickly decided he hated it. It was well over two miles long and Tony was absolutely not familiar with riding a horse. That shit hurt.

Loki was frowning and staring straight ahead. Paying attention to his husband helped Tony ignore the steadily building discomfort in his backside, which had been sore to begin with. The closer to the city they got, the more Loki looked like he had during the Tesseract incident, as Tony had taken to calling it. That was in no way a good thing and Tony found it worrisome. 

Odin met them at the gates. He was riding a horse of his own, which did not have eight legs and did not seem to have any suspicious connection to Loki. Tony, in the deepest darkest recesses of his brain, was relieved. Odin was…nothing like Tony expected and yet exactly like he expected. The man was huge and bearded and looked remarkably like he imagined Thor would look in a…few million years. Astride the whitest horse Tony’d ever seen, Odin looked every bit the warrior king he obviously was. It was just…a faint flicker in his eye or in the way he moved his head or the lines of his body that reminded Tony of Loki. Odin was much more cogniscent of the workings of his court and his city than Thor would ever be. Tony found that thought disturbing. That idea that Thor was actually not suited to the throne that would be his. That Loki was suited to it and yet could never take it. What would happen to Asgard when Thor was finally crowned king?

“My sons, welcome home. Midgardians! You are well met. As King of this people, I welcome you and bid you stay with me.” Odin said, his voice thick and aged, but carrying out over the crowd that had gathered. 

It was clearly directed to Tony, but he did not answer. Tony patently refused to speak to Odin until they were away from the public eye, because there was no way he’d be able to reign it in. He’d told Natasha this.

“Allfather. We three are honored to accept your hospitality and enter into your house as your guests and the guests of your son, Thor.”

Odin frowned at this. “Three? I see but two Midgardians.”

Tony literally bit his tongue.

Loki straightened in his saddle. “Allfather, I have been wed to a Midgardian. I come as a companion and a spouse only, not as a Prince of Asgard.”

Odin’s eyes widened and he glanced at Natasha. Tony felt a vicious smile curl over his face. He was going to thoroughly enjoy knocking this old man off his high horse…metaphorically, though he’d love to do it literally as well. No one corrected the old man’s assumption. Together, they rode through the city, Odin in the lead and Thor bringing up the rear. 

Perhaps Odin sensed the mood of the group or perhaps he’d planned it that way, but when they arrived at the palace, the Allfather led them straight to the throne room, which he ordered cleared.

Tony’s vicious smile tightened. The Allfather had a fuckton to answer for. Shit was going down.


	4. Chapter 4

The Allfather took his seat on the throne that sat high on a dais. He no doubt expected them all to bow. Thor did and Loki looked like he might follow, until Tony placed a hand on his arm. Loki froze and relaxed abruptly, turning to offer Tony a lazy smirk. That was not an expression that boded well for anyone, but Tony ignored it because he was about to make everything very much worse.

“So. Odin. To use a Midgardian phrase that you probably won’t recognize, I’ve got a bone to pick with you.”

Odin frowned, but nodded. “I do understand what that means. And what is this bone, Midgardian?”

“First off, I’m Tony Stark and that is Natasha Romanoff. We are Avengers, like Thor, when he’s on earth….Midgard. Whatever.”

“Alright, Tony Stark, Ambassador of Midgard, what have you to say to me?”

Tony crossed his arms, his whole body relaxed, a laziness to match that of Loki’s smirk emanating off him in waves. “Oh I have a list and all. You just wait. The first thing is your eldest son.”

Odin’s frown deepened. “What of Thor?”

“He’s a fucking prick is what. First of all, he’s possibly the world’ worst brother. Second, he’s a homophobic bastard. And Thirdly, probably most important to you, he absolutely and completely unsuitable for ruling anywhere.”

Thor had stiffened and turned to Tony, but he spotted the look on Loki’s face before he managed to do anything else. 

Odin was scowling now. “I am not familiar with this term, homophobic, but Thor’s parentage is true! What right have you to question that?”

Tony shrugged. “On Midgard, bastard does not always mean literally. It also means a nasty, conceited, arrogant dick. A homophobe? Hm…how do I put this so you get it…” He was tempted to tell Odin that his son liked dick, but he bit his tongue. “Thor hates his brother because Loki fucks dudes…er, men. Loki fucks men.”

Odin looked confused. “That is an abomination. Is that not the way of things on Midgard?”

Tony shook his head gravely. “Now I see where he got it. You’re a fucking homophobe too. Well, guess the fuck what? Remember how Loki said he was here as spouse to a Midgardian? He wasn’t talking about Natasha.” The expression on Odin’s face made Tony want to hit him and take Loki back to earth. “Your son, Loki, is my husband.”

“You are a shape-shifter?” He asked, without much hope. He seemed torn between despair and disgust and he was hiding neither well.

“Nope. No such thing on Midgard. And no offense, but asking someone to shape-shift for sex? That’s got to be the world’s biggest most degrading insult. I would never do that and I would never be with anyone who would ask that of me.”

Thor clapped him on the shoulder, grinning, which threw Tony for a moment. The big blond seemed to have gotten his earlier offense. “So you have never met Lady Loki?”

Tony frowned at him. “That’s the second time I’ve heard that name. Are you suggesting that Loki shape-shifts into a woman randomly?”

Loki snorted. “No, darling.” His tone was heavy and sugared, probably for Odin’s benefit, but Tony could hear the sarcasm lurking underneath. “Not randomly. I did it once, under very special circumstances and I have never been allowed to forget it.” He did the head jerk and his features softened. The fit of his Midgardian clothing shifted, straining across his newly ample chest. He was still clearly Loki, but he had shifted into a woman. “Tony, Lady Loki.” His voice was higher, but still velvety smooth.

Tony gaped at him, completely forgetting Odin up on the dais. “Oh holy fuck. How are you still beautiful!?! No one has the right to be beautiful as a man and a woman!”

Loki blinked at him. “Tony, you never ceased to surprise. Please never stop.” He shifted back to his normal self.

Tony blinked. “That has such possibilities…”

Loki lifted an eyebrow and glanced pointedly at his father. Tony shook his head to clear it. “Right. Yes. Okay…Um…Where was I? Oh yeah, Loki and I got married, which is legal and also accepted in America.” Mostly…okay, kind of, but shh. Don’t tell Asgard. 

Odin had narrowed his eyes during this exchange. “What my son does while he is not on Asgard, I cannot control. But now that he is here, I would have him abide by our customs, as he is of Asgard. “

“Now that he is here, you have absolutely no say over what he does and does not do. He’s here as an ambassador from earth. As the husband of a very prominent Midgardian and you can’t touch him. He will do exactly what he wants.”

Odin looked like he’d swallowed a lemon, but the expression had smoothed in a flash. “As to Thor being unfit to rule. I am aware that he is still more rash than is…preferable, but his exile has taught him much.“

“Yes, that. His exile might have taught him something, but it clearly didn’t teach him enough. He’s completely oblivious to everything that goes on around him. He is not merciful and he is not just. He saw nothing wrong with what you ordered done to Loki for crimes not even committed against your people. That was not justice. It was torture and deprivation and it was savage. You people are uncivilized beasts, if that is your definition of justice. Or maybe that’s just you, since you seem to be the high, unchecked authority here.” Odin’s face tightened, but he did not try to speak. “Thor does not see the plots around him, of which there is at least one that we know of. He would rather carouse and fight than rule a people. He was not made for this. Loki was certainly made for ruling. He is clever, a good liar, and savvy. I imagine, if you’d seen what was in front of your nose instead of being blinded by prejudice and favoritism, you would know this and you would have cultivated it in him. Instead, you broke him. Which leads me to number two on my list. Your skills at parenting. They suck. My father was a shit dad who basically abandoned me. You make Howard Stark look like parent of the year material. Hell, parent of the fucking century.”

Odin’s face twitched briefly and his mouth compressed even more, but still he didn’t speak. His nostrils flared. Tony’s eye narrowed.

“I get that you don’t want to hear this, especially from someone like me. But someone needs to say this to you because fuckall if everyone here is either too scared of you or has their head so far up their ass that they can’t see it.” Odin’s eye twitched. “You showed blatant favoritism. You lied to Loki for a fucking millennium. You told him stories as a child that made him hate his own people, without once mentioning his true parentage. He had to find out by accident. No fucking wonder he went batshit. You used him, plain and simple. I suspect that you never really even loved him to begin with.”

For all he seemed aware of the political power the Midgardian group had, Odin could not seem to let that slide. “You speak of things you do not undestand!”

“I. Am. Not. Done.” Each word was spat out like a curse. To everyone’s surprise, Odin subsided, looking vaguely murderous though he seemed to be attempting to suppress it. Tony carefully did not look at Loki as he continued. “Forget all the shit that happened when he was growing up. Like promising him that he had a chance at the throne. Like allowing your court to label him Liesmith and Silvertongue. To insult him to his face, even though he was a Prince of Asgard and should not have had to put up with that shit. Never mind ignoring his counsel when you knew he was right, which resulted in the deaths of countless Jotun at Thor’s hand personally, because your son is a prideful little shit and couldn’t deal with being called Princess.” Tony uncrossed his arms. The lazy was gone. His lip curled back and he leaned forward. “Never mind all that. The thing that really catapults you into the realm of really being a fucking failure as a dad? Your son, your hurt, confused, broken, terrified son, was hanging over a fucking precipice, looking for someone kind of validation. Looking for some scrap of love from you, some acknowledgement that hey Loki’s your son too, not just Thor, and his heritage really doesn’t matter to you. And what the fuck did you do? You said no. That’s what you did. It’s your fault he let go. It’s your fault he was captured by the Chitauri. You’re partly to blame for every death that he caused on Midgard. More to blame than he is, because he was brainwashed and controlled by the Chitauri. Did you think to ask about that? To look into what happened? No? Didn’t fucking think so.” 

Tony had prowled his way up the steps of the dais at this point and was right in Odin’s face. His voice was low and nearly shaking with controlled rage. Tony was barely holding his shit together. He clasped his hands behind his back to keep himself from causing an intergalactic incident by hitting Odin in the face. “Thor brings him back and you have his fucking mouth sewed shut and chuck him in a cell with no food or water for six fucking months, you unmitigated cunt.”

Natasha was gaping at him. Thor was gaping at him. Even Loki was staring wide-eyed. Odin held very still. “Every single fucking bad thing that’s happened to Loki can be traced back directly to you. You allowed it all to happen or you did it yourself.”

 

Tony was rapidly losing control of his anger. He knew that he had to wrap this up soon or he’d do something they’d all regret. “You’re a fool and a liar and a…” On of the hands behind his back curled into a fist and he slammed it down onto the arm of the throne. Odin flinched. “I don’t even know a word disgusting enough to describe you.” He moved back, out of striking range and crossed his arms again, trying to reign it in. Diplomatic envoy. Ambassadors. Don’t start a fucking war, Stark. “Now, you are going to answer two questions for me and you are going to answer them truthfully. If you lie, Loki will know. I will know. And if you lie, we are turning around, going back to Midgard and your entire fucking civilization can fall to fucking ruin. I’ll even thrown a party in celebration. You fucking got that?”

Odin blinked for a moment. “You dare speak to me this way?” Odin had managed to get his emotions under control and he sounded merely curious. 

Tony grinned and it edged on feral. “Oh I dare a whole fucking lot, you cunt. Here’s the questions. First, did you send Sif to bring Loki back to Asgard?”

Odin frowned deeply. “No. What reason would I have of such an action? I was unaware of Loki’s location until Thor informed me of it three days past, before disappearing into the repaired Bifrost.”

Tony furrowed his brow and glanced back at Thor. Well, that was interesting. He looked at Loki, who nodded slightly. True, then. “Alright. Second question. Did you authorize the deprivation and torture of Loki, by Sif and the Warriors Three, when Loki was being held prisoner here?”

Odin’s face was like a storm gathering. Tony suppressed a shudder. He maybe understood where Thor’s title as the God of Thunder and Storms had come from. “I did no such thing.”

Loki nodded again and his body seemed to sag, like a puppet with its strings cut. Tony smiled, softer than before but no less dangerous. “Good. Then you are less of a sick motherfucker than I thought you were, but you seem to have some kind of plot brewing. Because both of those things happened.”

Odin roared. Literally. He roared. In any other circumstances, Tony would have found this funny. “I will know what this is about! Thor, fetch them immediately.”

Natasha finally took that moment to remind everyone she was there. “That would be…unwise, Allfather. I think perhaps we should discover the…particulars of the plot before we expose it. If we simply question them, other plotters might have time to escape or they might tell us nothing. That is why we are here. We want to protect Loki. He is one of us now, but we also want…well, most of us want Thor to have a stable throne to ascend to when the time comes. If his closest friends and most-trusted warriors plot against him? That is a very dangerous situation. However, if someone else plots and has convinced the Warriors Three that what they do is just or is in fact your wishes, we have an more extensive problem.”

Odin looked at her, watching her closely for a moment. “You speak truth and wisdom. You would like my wife, Frigga, I think. Yes. That is a wise course of action. Thor, you did well to bring…them all here and to alert me of this. You may proceed as you think best, Midgardians, but I would be kept abreast of things. And, Tony Stark.”

Tony sneered at him and sketched a bow. “If you ever speak to me in such a way again, the rules of hospitality will be void and I will have you executed. I allowed you to speak today because you are an ambassador from Midgard. You are protected as such. And because you obviously care deeply for my son. If you had spoken from anything but care for Loki, I would not have been so…lenient. Do you understand me?”

Tony and Odin eyed each other for a moment, before Tony nodded.

“Father, you would order execution and break one of your own laws?” Loki stepped forward with a smirk. Tony smiled to see him looking halfway normal. Fear, anger, and confusion still lurked at the edges of the expression, but he seemed more at ease.

Odin furrowed his brow. “What?”

“The law states that anyone who has eaten of the Golden Garden of the Hesperides may not be killed for any reason.”

Odin narrowed his eyes. “They are mortal.”

Loki shook his head. He came forward and looped an arm around Tony’s waist, curling his hand over the shorter man’s hip. Tony immediately mirrored the action. “No, Allfather. All the mortal Avengers have eaten golden apples. Tony was the first. They cannot be killed here.”

Odin exhaled sharply and his lip curled. “Very well. Then he shall wish he had not eaten that apple and was able to die. Loki, you know the penalty for stealing from the Golden Garden.”

Loki held his head up and sniffed. “I stole nothing. I merely had something desirable with which to trade.”

Odin sighed. “Very well. Thor, show them to their rooms.”

Tony knew a dismissal when he heard one. He grinned widely.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I attribute most of the depiction of Fandral to me Beta.

The rooms were spacious, like the rest of the palace, full of wide open spaces and golden pillars. Tony decided he quite liked that design. He was going to build himself a room like it back home. One look at Loki’s face, however, had him scrapping that plan as soon as it was made. They were led down a long hallway. Natasha was given the suite of rooms across the hall from Tony’s. Thor made the mistake of attempting to separate Tony and Loki.

“Loki, your room has been prepared for you, as of old.” Thor’s face was light with a happy smile.

Tony snorted. Loki merely looked at him. “Thor, are you mad?”

Thor frowned lightly. “Of course not. Why, brother?”

Loki stiffened. “Because there are people in this palace who wish to see me locked away and isolated. You honestly believed I would wish to be put in my old room, which is in a little used hallway in the family wing? There are no guards there and no one but you, the Allfather, and Mother are allowed entrance. Half their work would be done for them. No, I think not. I would not be separated from my husband.”

Tony felt a little spike of warmth through him at the word, but he merely nodded. “Not entirely sure any of us three should be alone. I’d almost be tempted to ask for one of these rooms to be turned into a bedroom for Natasha or something, so we’re not split up. Safety in numbers and what-not.”

Natasha, who’d followed them in, shrugged. “If I have to listen to you two fucking all night, I’d really rather not.”

Tony leered at Loki, who managed a half-smirk back. His voice, however, was even and teasing. “I could cast a charm so that you would be unable to hear us, should our…activities be too loud.” Thor was blushing like a schoolgirl, which made Tony snicker. Loki noticed and raised a scathing eyebrow. “Really, Thor. You have been lying with women for the better part of nine-hundred years. If talk of sex affects you so, I pity all the women you fucked.”

Thor scowled, but could not fight down the blush. “I am merely…ill-used to talk of…this type of fucking. Excuse my language, Lady Widow.”

Natasha waved him off. “Yeah. Yeah.” She eyed Tony and Loki for a moment. “You two behave. You know your sex life makes him squicked. So quit it.”

Thor shook his head and held up a hand. “No. I will become accustomed to it. What I have seen in the past three days and what my beloved Jane as told me…I will become accustomed to your…marriage. Brother, I would apologize for my…earlier actions. I still do not understand…” He waved a hand vaguely between the couple, “this at all. Nor your physical desire for one another, but I do not wish to hurt you more than I already have. I did not wish to hurt you at all.”

Thor stepped forward and placed a heavy hand on Loki’s shoulder. “I am most sorry, brother, for the pain I have caused you. I would make amends for it, if only I knew how. Know that I will not say a word against your…marriage to the Man of Iron again.”

Loki stared up at Thor, his face completely blank. The two brothers stood for a moment, saying nothing. Finally, Thor sighed and nodded. He stepped away, letting his hand fall back to his side, and turned to Tony. “Tony Stark, Man of Iron, I would apologize to you also. I believed much ill of you. You reputation is not…sterling…and I believed that you were leading my brother very much astray. I can see the love that is between you now and, though I do not agree with it, I accept it for what it is. Something that I cannot change and that of which I would not deprive my brother.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at the blond. “If Loki were to shift into a woman, you’d be fine with this?”

Thor shook his head. “That would not be true. My brother is not a woman. No matter that he can shape-shift, it is not who he is. I would not approve of a partner that wished him to be something he is not.”

Tony nodded and grinned at the god. “Good. If you’d said yes, I’d probably of never talked to you again. Just sayin’.”

Thor’s eyebrows rose. “Indeed. Well, I shall send servants to have the extra sitting lounge changed into a bedroom. We are feasting this night in your honor. I will fetch you for the meal.”

Thor left the three alone. Natasha flopped onto the nearest couch. Tony and Loki curled up together in an armchair. That close, Tony could feel the small tremors that wracked Loki’s frame. “Hey. Hey, lover.” He said softly. “You alright?”

Loki inhaled deeply and paused, before sighing. “Yes. I…Yes, I am as fine as may be.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow skeptically at that. “Your father seemed… political, but he also did seem to care for you…after a fashion.”

Loki nodded. “The Allfather is King first, politician second, and father to his actual children a distant third. It has always been so, since we were boys.”

Tony scoffed and reached up to run a hand through Loki’s long hair. Loki dropped his head onto Tony’s shoulder. “I did not expect him to be so… accepting of this situation in which we find ourselves. Nor of you, Tony.” He tapped the arc reactor with one long finger.

Tony shrugged, almost dislodging his husband. “We’ve got something he wants.”

Natasha shook her head. “No. It is more that that. It is also more that our value as representatives of Midgard, although it is certainly that as well. You said that no one will stand up and say what needs to be said to him, Tony, and I think he realizes that. I think maybe he knows how bad he fucked up with Loki and he, maybe subconsciously, wanted someone to call him out on it. Or…well, want is a strong word, but you get my meaning.”

Loki shook his head. “The Allfather is all-wise and all-justice. He acted as he must as King.”

Tony jerked back and glared down at the top of Loki’s head. “The fuck did I just hear? You cannot believe that. You did not deserve what happened to you. You know this, Loki. We’ve been talking about this since you showed up and I thought you finally got it. You did not deserve what he did to you, never mind the torture after. He is not just or wise. He’s a fuck-up.”

“Yeah. Odin the fuck-up, blah, blah, blah. We don’t have time for you’re heart-to-heart therapy sessions here, Stark.”

Tony spluttered indignantly, but she spoke over him. “We need to keep our eyes and ears open. Alert. We’ve got at least one plot working here, but we don’t know who or what is at the center of—“

There was a knock on the door. The three of them turned to stare at it. Natasha blinked and, assuming it was Thor, called for the person to come in. The door opened and a tall, thin blond man entered. Immediately Loki stiffened from his position wound around Tony in the chair. Tony blinked. The man had the stupidest looking goatee and mustache combo that the engineer had even seen. He looked like he stepped out of some 40s movie about Robin Hood.

Loki, though strung tight with tension, did not rise. The man came tentatively into the room and nodded to Loki. “Fandral, this is Natasha Romanoff.” Fandral bowed and Natasha nodded back at him. “And this is my husband, Tony Stark.”

Fandral jerked back as though he’d been hit, but said nothing. He eyed Tony for a minute. “Greetings Midgardians. I am Frandal, one of the Warriors Three.”

Tony understood the tension he could feel radiating off Loki. “Are you now? Well.” Tony did not sound impressed.

Fandral inclined his head awkwardly, as though he weren’t sure what to do. He clearly wasn’t sure where to look, but his eyes kept being drawn back to the heap of limbs that was the married couple. “I…Midgardian practices are much different from our own.” He said noncommittally. 

Tony rolled his eyes. “If you are here to be disgusted by the fact that Loki and I got married on Midgard, then you can just fuck off, yeah? I’m really kind of sick of this already.”

Fandral shook his head and perched gingerly on the couch opposite Natasha. His gaze flittered around nervously. “No. I have…no quarrel with your situation. I realize that most Aesir are…misguided in their understanding of your relationship, but I have nothing to say on that score. I came to…apologize.” He said the last so earnestly that Tony almost believed him. 

Loki snorted. “Indeed. And what precisely would you be apologizing for?”

Fandral looked away, twisting his fingers on his lap. Tony got the distinct impression that this was not something the man did often, an extreme nervous tic. The man, for all he was a warrior, was slight compared to Thor. Bulkier than Loki, he was short for an Aesir, from what Tony had seen, and absurdly vain, from the looks of his facial hair. Tony ran a hand over his own goatee and smirked. 

Loki reached up and snagged Tony’s wrist, pulling it away from his face. He interwove their fingers and looked back at Fandral, who was now staring openly at them, a pained look in his eyes that Tony thought he might recognize if given the proper context. “You seem more your old self, Loki. I…I do not think I have seen you this…comfortable inside your skin since well before Thor’s exile.”

Loki stiffened and glared at the man. “You would speak to me thus? You who have done…Who have…You dare…” Loki seemed unable to complete his thought.

Fandral literally hung his head. He leaned forward and dropped it into his hands. “Loki, I did not realize to quite what extent…Sif and Volstagg had taken their duty. I would not have…I am so very sorry for what was done to you. What I did to you and what the others did. If I could go back, I would try to stop them.” He dug his fingers into his hair, tugging in frustration and remorse. “I am not…I do not wish to be the kind of man who would do those things to someone who is helpless. Trapped and without any chance of fighting back. Without your magic and without your weapons, Loki, I knew that you stood no chance against us, even if you had not been…bound like you were.” He gesture vaguely to Loki’s mouth, with one hand, but did not raise his head. 

Loki’s lips curled back. “Do not make the mistake of thinking me helpless, Fandral. For I am not.”

Fandral glanced up. “No. I know you are not. But you were. And I…We did unspeakably cruel things to you. I deeply regret it and I would take it all back if I could. I am truly and deeply sorry for the way you were treated.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. The man seemed willing enough to speak. “Why did you treat Loki like you did…like an animal?”

Fandral stood and began pacing in agitation. “I received an order that Loki…that the prisoner was to be…punished for the transgressions he had committed. It did not specify the nature of the punishment. In hindsight, I think perhaps Lady Sif was the first of us to get…overzealous and it just spiraled out of control from there. I do not know who gave the original order. I was shown the paper by Hogun and I gave it to Volstagg. He seemed to already know, but that might be his overall…disinterest in anything not edible.” His mouth quirked up at the last comment, but his eyes remained the same, pained and so childishly earnest.

Natasha shot Tony a look. Tony chewed the side of his lip. “Well.”

Loki stood, easing out from around Tony. He moved smoothly to stand in front of Fandral. “You seem genuinely remorseful, Fandral. That is, I think, worth something, at least. If you wish to prove that you are truly sorry, keep the others away from me. I have no wish to see any of them, but especially the Lady Sif. She has never liked me, though I know not why.”

Fandral grinned at him wearily. “You spurned her once. Do you not remember?”

Loki frowned. “I did no such…thing…” He trailed off, as though trying to remember.

Fandral laughed. “You certainly did. We were all little more than children, then. It was before a tournament. The Lady Sif approached you and requested a token, something to ride with and display. I do not know whether you thought she mocked you for not participating or whether your mind was merely elsewhere. You frowned at her and asked why she would possibly think you would have something to give her. I believe your exact words were: I am no maiden, Lady Sif; you make sort as though you were a man, but I will not make play at being a woman.”

“I barely remember that day. Surely, she did not seem to take the comment ill.” Loki looked confused.

Fandral shook his head. “Oh, it was not that day that she realized the slight. It was…”

Loki’s eyes widened with realization. “It was the day that I shifted into Lady Loki to help Thor retrieve his hammer, wasn’t it?”

Fandral nodded, still grinning. “Indeed. You would not make play at being a woman for her, but you would become a woman for your brother.”

Tony choked on air. Loki shot him a sharp look. “Well, it seems the Lady Sif has more reason than I realized to hate me. My request still stands. You wish to prove your remorse, keep them away.”

Fandral nodded, face grave again. He reached out to Loki, as though meaning to lay a hand on his arm. Loki flinched back. Fandral froze and his expression shut down. “I will try my best, Loki. I am sorry for what befell you, but I offer my congratulations on your recent nuptials and I wish you much happiness.”

Fandral gave a formal, stilted bow and left quickly. Natasha sucked her teeth for a moment, thinking. “Well, that’s certainly useful information. If it’s true.”

Loki smirked. “Tasha, you are speaking with the God of Lies. He was speaking truth. Everyone seems to forget that I will always know when they are lying.”

Tony narrowed his eyes, but a smirk curled his lip. “Not always, lover.”

Natasha must have sensed a storm brewing because she stood and slipped out of the room. Loki frowned and looked at him. “You speak truth now. Which means you have lied to me in the past and I was unaware of it. How is that possible? You are able to lie to the God of Lies?”

Tony laughed, full and deep. “Only in very, very limited circumstances.” Loki’s face shut down and Tony seemed to realize the implication of what he said. “Loki, I’ve only lied to you once that you did not seem to realize it was a lie. You know I’m telling you the truth now.” Loki nodded stiffly. “At the time, it was a lie you needed to hear, because I figured the truth would send you running for the hills. It was the first time we…m-made love when you wore your Jotun skin.” Tony still stumbled over calling it that.

Loki frowned, sharp and brittle. “What was the lie?”

Tony smiled half-heartedly, regretting that he even mentioned it. “I told you that I’m yours until you don’t want me anymore. That was the lie.” Loki was still frowning, but there was fear lurking in his eyes now. Tony wanted to kick himself. Open mouth, insert whole fucking leg. “Loki, I’m yours until I die whether you want me or not. Nothing will change that. It was barely a lie. More an omission, because I didn’t want to scare the shit out of you, because it certainly scared the shit out of me at the time. I only mentioned it to tease.”

The tension in Loki’s body relaxed and he slumped into a chair. “I hate this place. I hate what it does to me and I hate that it makes me suspect you of things that I know you would not do. I hate that I am afraid here. I am the God of Mischief and Lies; I should not fear. I should be feared.”

Tony knelt on the floor in front of the taller man, between his knees. “Lover, you have every right to be afraid. Everybody’s gotta be scared of something. And people here are terrified of you. I saw it when we rode in. Respect and fear. That’s what I saw when they looked at you. They fear and respect the Allfather. They’re not afraid of Thor, which won’t bode well for him when he takes the throne.” Loki shook his head. Tony sighed and stood. Holding out a hand, he offered a small smile. “Come on, let’s go take a nap before this stupid feast Thor wants us to attend. All that shouting at Odin made me tired.”

Loki forced a smile. “Well, if that is all it takes to make you wish to sleep…”

Tony chuckled and led Loki into the bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony actually collapsed into bed in the earlier hours of the following morning, after he and Loki managed to escape from the ‘feast’. Tony had never actually realized that the phrase was anything more than a metaphor, but you learn something new everyday. He couldn’t even tell you what the bed felt like or if he’d undressed first. The party had been complete agony. It made the stupid events he was forced to attend back on Midgard look like blockbuster hits. The ale was strong and he was still a recovering alcoholic, so he wasn’t allowed to taste it anyway. The water tasted so odd he could barely stomach it. The food was like something out of a King Arthur movie, all grease and meat and coarse breads. Tony supposed he would have to get used to it. No wonder Thor loved Midgardian food so much. 

Besides the edibles, a term Tony used loosely, the company was enough to drive anyone to drink. The Warriors Three kept their distance and so did Sif, but she eyed them continually. The four of them were clearly on edge and it threw off the normal flow. Thor spent much of the night introducing Tony and Natasha as Midgardians and, per their earlier agreement, Loki took to introducing Tony as his spouse. This sent an outraged/intrigued/confused ripple through the assembled group, but Odin seated Loki and Tony across from one another, which was apparently the custom for married couples, so no one could question them too closely. The Odin seal of approval seemed to still some of the tongue wagging. There was little to no chance of garnering any useful information because they were the focus of everyone’s attention. No one spoke of anything to them, but themselves and their planet. Tony never wanted to answer another question about Midgard again. He also wanted to go back to calling it earth, but he couldn’t quite seem to remember that.

Loki had brought only Midgardian clothing, since he was a representative of Midgard, as Tony’s husband. He would not be wearing his armour for the trip, unless it was necessary. He’d worn tailored slacks and a cashmere sweater. Tony was in a suit, sans tie. Natasha had worn a short, red halter dress. Her clothing shocked the court and theirs just confused everyone. Tony was tempted to trade his clothing for Aesir duds, just to get people to shut the fuck up. He hoped the novelty would wear off soon, because otherwise they would get nowhere fast and being without his equipment and his phone? Tony was going to get very antsy, very quickly. Maybe he’d invent something for the Aesir. He’d show them how smart Midgardians are.

This all occurred to Tony the following…well, it was too late to be morning, so early afternoon when he finally awoke. He blinked against the light coming in through the wide-open wall, which he also did not notice the night before. And fuck all if he was going to let those windows stay there. He reached out for Loki, but the bed was empty. He could hear voices in the outer room, but neither voice was female. Walking as silently as he absolutely could, he approached the door, which was ajar. Loki must have been distracted because neither man gave any sign they’d heard Tony waking.

“Thor, I would ask you kindly to not barge in here without first waiting to be invited.” Ah, so Thor’s entrance had been what woke Tony.

“But, brother, am I not welcome in these rooms? You all are welcome anywhere I might be.”

Tony pushed the door wider and stepped into the room. “No, as a matter of fact, you aren’t welcome here. Thor, I told you once before and I’ll tell you again. You are not welcome anywhere that I consider my living space. I don’t care if I’m on Midgard, Asgard, or Who-gives-a-fuck-gard. Unless you’re told you can be here, you stay the fuck out. I don’t like you and I don’t trust you. After what you’ve done to your own fucking family and the things you said to me, you’d think that would be an easy concept for you to grasp.”

Thor looked murderous. “How dare you speak to me this way? How dare you try to keep me from my brother? I am Prince here.”

Tony sneered. “La-de-freakin-dah. I don’t give a flying fuck if you’re Prince, King, or the fucking Tsar of Russia. You were there when I spoke to Odin and he is king. You think I care that you’re runner-up?”

Thor took a step forward and Loki stepped sideways to block his path. “Thor, state your business and then leave. You should not stay where you are not respect or wanted. And you need to learn to control your temper. When you are king, it will only serve you ill.”

Thor balled his hands into fists and took a deep breath. “You speak sense, brother.” Tony noted that, even after Pepper’s comment at the wedding, he still hadn’t stopped addressing Loki as brother. “I merely wished to say that the Lady Sif claims to know nothing about orders to have Loki removed back to Asgard and has denied going to fetch him.”

Tony dropped into the nearest chair. “Jesus fuck, Thor, are you fucking with me? You told her? Did you tell her that we think there’s a plot too? Did you tell her that’s why we’re here? Are you that much of a fucking numbskull?”

Loki reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, but stayed silent. His earlier anger forgotten, Thor now glanced from Tony to Loki and back again, clearly confused. “Was I not meant to question her?”

Tony groaned loudly and dropped his head against the back of the chair. Loki came and dropped into his lap, crosswise, draping his long legs over the arm. He looked at Tony, who’d lifted his head at the presence in his lap. “How does he ever expect to run a court, if he does not understand something of this level of simplicity?”

Tony shook his head in despair, only partly feigned. “Asgard is doomed. Let’s go back to Midgard and pretend this whole trip never happened, ‘k?”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “I would dearly love to do just that.”

Tony sighed. “I know, lover, but we really can’t. Though what happens after we figure this out and then leave? Well, I couldn’t give two flying fucks about that.”

There was a grinding noise from one of the other doors in the room and they all turned to look. Natasha emerged, looking bleary-eyed. Which, Tony mused, was possibly the most astonishing thing he’d seen since they arrived, space-bridge included. “Morning, Starks. Morning, Thor.”

Loki jerked and looked at Tony. Tony blinked owlishly at him. “Starks?”  
Tony didn’t respond. His brain seemed to be in lock-down mode. Loki Stark? That sounded…well, actually it sounded really good to Tony, but he doubted Loki felt the same.

Natasha squinted at them. “I see you two haven’t talked about last names, then. Get on that. Loki’s got enough names as it is. I don’t really think Tony Laufeyson or Tony Odinson work and Tony Liesmith just seems to be labeling the obvious.”

Tony turned his head very slowly to gape at her. Loki snorted. “Yes, I do not really approve of any of those names. Why must a name be changed at all?”

Natasha shrugged. “It doesn’t. But it will make things less complicated when you two have kids.”

The two men stared at her some more. In fact, Tony thought that maybe his face might be perminently stuck like that. “Children?”

Loki looked at him sharply. “You do not want children?”

Tony now gaped at Loki. He really needed to get back control of his face and change that expression. He knew it couldn’t be flattering. “Children? Loki, in case you’ve forgotten, we are both men. That means a distinct lack of uteri.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Saying that statement you have a care for grammar? I’ve heard you butcher the English language badly enough to make Thor cringe. ‘Would of’ anyone? And yet, you correctly pluralize uterus?”

Tony waved her off. “Oh shut up, Natasha. You’re Russian anyway. And that wasn’t English, it was Latin. I always have a care with Latin. Not the fucking point. Loki!”

Loki blinked at him. “Have you heard none of our earlier mentions of Lady Loki? Have you forgotten that I have shown you that I can become a woman?” He looked honestly confused. 

Tony did not want to contemplate this. “You are telling me that you don’t just look like a woman. You are a woman? With a uterus and ovaries and all that shit?” Loki nodded. “Fuuuuck. I do not know how to respond to that. This goes way beyond transgendered into the realm of What the Fuck. You mean to say that you could have children? Like actual you-plus-me-plus-sex-to-make-babies children?” Loki nodded again, watching Tony carefully. “I…I don’t even…My brain registers your words, but it doesn’t understand them all in a row like that. You are male. Males can’t give birth.”

Thor laughed, full and deep, and Tony turned to glare at him. “My brother has already given birth once before. He has a son named Fenrir. He is what you humans call…a werewolf I believe?”

Tony choked. “That myth was true? Loki, you gave birth to an enormous wolf?”

Loki stiffened and looked away. “Fenrir was not fully a wolf when he was born. He was partly human, partly wolf cub. And yes, I bore him, but he grew inside my chest, directly between my lungs, and when he was fully formed he clawed his way out of my body.”

Thor was grinning proudly. “My nephew was very strong. He broke all of Loki’s ribs to be born. Very determined little one.”

Loki turned to snarl at him. “Yes, he broke me ribs and then Father took him away. I saw him rarely in his early childhood, before Tyr bound him in chains because Mother had a vision that he would kill Odin at Ragnarök.”

Thor hung his head. “I am sorry, brother. I did not wish to remind you of your pain.”

Tony waved a hand wildly. “Hang on! You’re saying that you can turn into a woman and give birth the normal way, but somehow you chose that instead?”

Loki shook his head. “It was a mistake. The Enchantress Amora bewitched me and I lay with a Frost Giantess. I do not know how the pregnancy occurred and I remember very little of the coupling.”

“Christ. Your speech is reverting back to fucking Milton. Jesus… So this Amora person date-raped you and you got pregnant in a way that should absolutely not be possible. God, you’re life was fucked up. Shit. Well, you and I are going to do things the old fashioned way. With a uterus and ovaries. And whatever. Fuck. You cannot spring shit on me this early in the morning.”

Thor looked skeptical. “Tony Stark, it is two o’clock in the afternoon.”

Tony groaned again and dropped his head onto Loki’s shoulder. “Who gives a shit? I woke up like half an hour ago.”

Loki angled his face to look into Tony’s eyes and then poked him gently. Tony blinked his eyes open and arched an eyebrow. “By that statement, did you mean that you do desire to have children with me?”

Sighing, Tony scrubbed a hand over his face. “Loki, of course, I’d have children with you.” Tony thought about how that sounded for a moment and the look in Loki’s eyes. His stomach dropped out and images of his father flashed across his mind. He swallowed thickly. “I do want to. I just… Honestly, I did not even think it was a remote possibility. It didn’t occur to me that you could create a fucking womb. Shit. This is a little much to take in.” A little much might have been the understatement of the year, in Tony’s book. Kids…Fuck. Fucking Natasha. This conversation needed to be rerouted immediately. “Especially considering Thor’s colossal fuck-up.”

Natasha frowned sharply, wide-awake. “What’s that?”

Tony exhaled quietly. Success. Carefully not looking at his husband, Loki explained what Thor had told them. Natasha turned to the blond. “You are, without a doubt, the Nine Realms’ most oblivious monarch. What on earth has Odin been teaching you these past…centuries?”

Thor drew himself up. “I have been trained as a warrior. Loki was always meant to be the man of the court. I am the sword and he is the scepter. I believe that Odin intended us to rule together, though I would be King in name.”

Loki turned sharply to Thor. “What?”

Thor nodded gravely. “Brother, the Allfather always meant for us to rule together. He told me this before my aborted coronation. If you had but asked me, I would have told you this. When Father promised us, as children, that we were both born to rule, he was not pandering to our egos. He was not lying. He wished it to be true. I believe that that is why he was willing to go forward with the coronation. He believed you ready to rule the court. But the trip to Jotunheim showed that I was not ready to head your word…I was too proud to listen. You tried to talk me out of fighting. You tried to bring us home, but I would not heed you.”

Loki looked sick, his face pinched and pale. “No, Thor, Odin had to have told you. I let the Jotun in. I thought you not ready to rule and Odin would not listen to me, so I wanted to prove your rashness. I told the guard that alerted Odin. He was meant to head us off. He was meant to prevent us from leaving for Jotunheim. I never wanted…what occurred. Only for Father to listen to me and understand. To see what I saw. I loved you dearly, but you were not ready to rule.”

Thor nodded. “Yes, brother. I know this now. I would not have…been good for our people.”

Loki looked away from his. “You would not have been and I certainly was not.”

Thor took an aborted step forward, reaching out. He dropped his hand immediately. “Together, we would have balanced out each other’s weaknesses. Brother, we were never meant to be apart. We have always been a unit, better together than alone.”

Loki huffed out a sharp breath and when he turned back his face was cold. “No, Thor. You have always been fine on your own. It was I who could not make a place for myself here. In this court that you claim I was meant to rule? They hate me and they always have. I imagine that now that they know my true heritage, they hate me even more. You could have and you will rule alone. I will rule nothing. I am not fit to be a king. I understand that now.”

Thor frowned, but Tony jumped in first. “Being fit to be king and being king are different things, Lover. You are 100% fit to be king of Asgard and probably a dozen other worlds. What happened back home says nothing about you as a person. One, because you were being controlled, and two, because there is no throne on Midgard. I told you before and I’m sure you’ve noticed. Midgard is a planet broken into separate countries with separarte governments. I realize that Asgard is very different. You couldn’t have known that coming to Midgard, but no one will rule there. Probably ever. That does not mean you are a bad leader or unfit for anything.”

Loki offered him a brittle half-smile. Thor nodded. “The man of iron speaks truth, brother. And no one at court knows your heritage. Father was reluctant even to tell me. The court, in fact, knows very little from the time of my exile. The Warriors Three know some of it, but only you and I know it all.”

Tony raised an hand. “And me. Loki told me.” He stuck out his tongue. Loki turned an incredulously raised eyebrow on him. “What? Broke some of the tension didn’t I?”

Loki snorted softly. Natasha laughed. “Well, if you lot are done with your family crisis, I think we need to discuss that fact that Thor has no idea what he is doing here.”

Tony chuckled. “Agreed.”

The three spent the next three hours trying to explain to Thor why he should absolutely not have asked Sif directly about anything. During the fourth hour, Tony gave up and turned the knickknacks on the table into a mini-robot. Finally, when the voice levels had steadily risen to shouting and Thor looked ready to break out the hammer, Tony put a stop to it.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, EVERYONE!” The other three froze and turned to look at him. He poked the robot and it started to walk. “Okay. This is how this is going to work. You two are going to stop trying to explain this to him. He will never understand it. Thor, you are going to stop talking about anything that happens in these rooms with anyone not currently in these rooms, get it? Good. You are also not going to mention our suspicions to anyone. If Sif asked, you will say that she explained it sufficiently and you believe her. That there must have been some mistake on Midgard. Leave it at that. We three are going to go about this quietly, like the professionals we are.” 

Natasha scoffed. Tony shot her a dry look. “Lovebug,” her eyes narrowed, but he continued heedlessly. “I worked in weapons manufacturing for decades and I lied blatantly and successfully to thousands of people, including a Senate Subcommittee, which I could have been arrested and imprisoned for, by the way. I’ve been a professional liar as long as you’ve been alive, sister.”

Looking rueful, Natasha conceded the point.

“Good. So that’s how this is going to work. Any problems? Not from you, Thor. I don’t care if you have issues with it.” 

Loki raised an eyebrow and smirked. He leaned in and breathed softly in Tony’s ear. “I love when you pretend to be in charge, darling.”

Tony shivered. “I love it when you call me darling, Lover.”

Loki chuckled and there was a loud gagging noise behind them. They pulled apart to see Natasha shooing them with her hands. “Take that away from here, if you please. Go. We’re done here anyway. Tony, this robot won’t blow things up, will it?”

Tony shook his head. Loki frowned down at it. “How did you possibly create a robot with no tools and no Midgardian materials?”

Tony shrugged. “Genius inventor engineer?”

Loki sighed and gave up. Tony grinned as he was dragged off to the bedroom.


	7. Interlude

An hour or so later, the voices from the living room had quieted. Loki lay beneath the coverlet with Tony draped across his chest. Tony drew tiny patterns into Loki’s skin with gentle fingertips. 

“Have you actually thought about the name thing?” Tony’s voice was low, warm, and a little hesitant where it whispered over Loki’s skin.

Loki shook his head. “I was actually unaware of that Midgardian custom. It is true for couples of any configuration?”

“Well, no. Not necessarily. But I know how much…baggage any and all of your surnames have. The difficulty you have introducing yourself to people when they want a last name.”

“That is certainly true. The emphasis Midgard has on the family name is…irritating, to say the least. I do not understand why people cannot simply call me Loki.”

“It’s too relaxed for people. They like being able to put distance between themselves and other people. They also like being able to show other people that they know you well without being blatant about it. Using a first name does that, but only if the person has a last name other people call them by.”

Loki considered this for several minutes. “That makes sense. It is much subtler than the Aesir usually are about things of this nature…Loki Stark.” He said the name as though he were tasting it.

Tony’s heart clenched hard. The idea of Loki taking his name had been a bit of a shock, but the sound of it from Loki’s lips stirred a primeaval possessiveness in his chest that was certainly unhealthy and grossly misplaced. He figured it would eventually get him seriously injured, but he couldn’t help it. Things like this made him want to latch onto Loki and never, ever let him go. He had a momentary vision of he and Loki laying wrapped around one another like this for all eternity. It surprised him how content he would be with that. If only Pepper could see me now. His mouth curled into a smirk. She certainly wouldn’t believe him capable of such commitment. She’d been stunned speechless when he’d told her that he’d proposed to Loki.

Loki was looking bemused, when Tony focused in on him again. The god eyed Tony. “It pleases you. That I would take your name. I do not think it would please me to hear you called Tony Odinson or Tony Laufeyson or even Tony Silvertongue, though that last is, in point of fact, true enough. But I believe I like the sound of Loki Stark. Though, it seems, not nearly as much as you do.” Loki smirked down at him and Tony felt a faint flush creep across his face. “If nothing else, it will make introductions back h…back on Midgard easier.”

Tony grinned broadly. “No, you were right the first time. Back home. It’s your home now too, lover. You belong in the Tower as much as any of us now.”

Loki smiled, small and soft and not something Tony saw often. It faded almost immediately, though. “Tony, do not think that you distracted me earlier. You do not wish to have children with me. You lied, but the lie…felt odd. Why did you lie to me?”

Tony jerked and glanced up. “Er…” Loki’s eyes were flat and his face was without expression. Tony’s mind supplied him with the helpful observation: Fuck. “I…uh…I didn’t lie. Necessarily. I… Loki, I don’t know how to be a parent. My mother died when I was very young and my father… well…I’ve told you a little bit about Howard Stark and I know Steve told you more.” Tony’s body was tensed as if to flee, and Loki’s arm around his shoulders tightened. “It’s not that I don’t want to have kids with you…it’s…I…I dunno if I know how. I don’t want…”

Loki waited.

Tony sat up and buried his hands in his hair, resting his elbows on his knees. His voice when it finally came was brittle, but he tried to disguise it with a poor attempt at sarcasm. “We wouldn’t want any more Tony Starks running around now, would we? Any kids turn out like me and they’d probably blow up the fucking planet. I’m good at destroying things. I build shit that blows things up. I don’t understand how to create things….good things.”

Loki sat up as well, and curled an arm around Tony’s waist. “Tony, you are the most absurd person I have ever encountered.” Tony stiffened even further. “You know that you’re brilliant and handsome and a hundred other things, and yet you do not see your own value. If you did not see these things, I might understand it. But you do. So how can you dismiss yourself so easily? You create good things consistently. You built Jarvis. You built your suit. You designed and helped build Stark Tower…Avengers Tower. You created the Avengers. They were nothing before you. A collection of lost creatures, alone and hopeless. You gave them purpose. You think it was Agent Coulson’s supposed death, but it was you, not Director Fury. The Agent and the Director, they were the catalysts, but it was you. And you keep them together. You call Steven Captain, but you are the mortar that holds the structure in place… And… You re-created me. I was broken into pieces and you put me back together. Without you, we would all be far less than the sum of our parts. You must understand this.” Loki pressed in closer, forcing as much skin-to-skin contact as he could. “Tony, you are not Howard. From what I understand, Howard was a…bastard, in the Midgardian sense of the term. You are not your father, just as I am not Odin…or Laufey. You will learn from his mistakes, as I would learn from Odin’s. We create beautiful children, who would understand what it means to be loved.”

Tony’s shoulders were shaking and Loki was almost certain he was crying, but the taller man made no comment. They sat like that until the light from the window-wall lengthened. “Tony, I will not press this, but I would like…to have a child the traditional way. To raise it myself. With you. I ask only that you consider what I have said.”

Tony nodded into his hands and scrubbed them over his face. His eyes, when he turned them to Loki, were bloodshot, but he was smiling. “I…thank you…I.” He paused and his eyes roved over Loki’s face. “I’ll think about it, yeah? Hey, we’re immortal, remember? No rush.”

Loki nodded and returned the smile, seeing what looked like hope in the back of Tony’s eyes. “It is time to dress for dinner. It will be much quieter this night. There is never a feast two nights running, unless it is a festival celebration. We will be eating with Odin and the inner circle of the court.”

Tony nodded and stood, stretching before he wandered into the bathroom. When he emerged ten minutes later, his goatee was freshly groomed, but he was still totally nude. “Fuck, I hate it here. This place turns me into a sap and the plumbing is a fucking hundred years out of date.”

Loki laughed. “That is the problem you have with Asgard? The plumbing?”

Tony nodded sadly. “Well, the hot water isn’t nearly hot enough because the plumbing is so old that it takes too long to get here. Bah. I cannot wait to get back to Midgard. And fuckall. I need to stop calling it that. Earth. Back to earth.”

Loki laughed again, a quieter version of the earlier belly-laugh. “You will always, from now onward, call it Midgard. Once you begin, you cannot go back.”

Tony arched a brow. “Once you go black, you never go back, huh?”

Loki frowned. “I do not understand what that means.”

Tony paused. “Um…It has nothing to do with this really. It’s just a saying. Never mind. It wasn’t…PC anyway. Forget I said it.” Tony gave a rueful snort and pulled on a different pair of trousers from the night before. 

Loki frowned, as though noticing something for the first time, as he eyed Tony’s clothing. “You really only have two modes of dress, do you not? Suits or very casual. There is no middle area.”

Tony shrugged as he buttoned his dress shirt. “I look like a dick in sweaters. Semi-casual is not a good look for me. Especially with you in the general vicinity. Of course, you in the general vicinity makes most normal men look like trolls anyway, so…”

Loki rolled his eyes at the comment, but his lips twitched. “Indeed. Well, we would not wish you to appear troll-like.”

When the two were dressed, Loki in leather pants, cut like jeans, and a black dress shirt, they met Natasha in the living area. She smirked at them and turned to Tony. “You are absolutely not allowed to drag him away halfway through dinner for sex or jealousy. Understood?”

Tony looked around shiftily. “I wasn’t planning to.”

“Stark.”

Tony huffed. “Fine. Understood.” He sulked all the way to dinner.


	8. Chapter 7

Over the next several weeks, the court seemed to grow immune to the presence of outsiders in their midst. Slowly, Natasha adopted the dress of Asgard. Loki wore more leather, but still wore Midgardian style clothing. Tony ditched the suits and was now almost constantly in jeans and t-shirts. He was also bored out of his skull, which was never a good thing. He’d already redesigned the plumbing in their bathroom and built a life-sized model of the little robot he’d built their second day on Asgard. It walked, but didn’t do much else. He lacked the tools or the material to make it any more complex. He grew antsy. The antsier Tony grew, the more on edge was Loki.

When the need to move, to make something, grew too strong, Tony took to roaming through the least-used areas of the palace and the town below. There were lots of off type people to be met in back corridors and alleys. Tony met a blind architect, an alchemist, a small child who could imitate any noise, but couldn’t speak, and a woman who wove dreams. The last two were the most interesting.

The child, a young boy, was totally mute when it came to spontaneous communication, but he could reproduce any sound he heard, including the speech of others. He reminded Tony of a particularly gifted parrot. The boy had staked out a corner in the lower town, begging for bread and coppers, which was the currency of Asgard. Tony had begged Natasha to get him a handful from Thor. Tony took them down to the town and spent all but two. One of the remaining two he’d given to the mute boy, the other he’d kept since it was really kind cool looking. 

The woman had a stall in the marketplace. She sat with a handloom and wove dreams. She was beautiful in the way Sif was beautiful: fierce, dark, and just a little wild. She had long pale hair that brushed the ground when she sat and narrow hazel eyes. When she smiled, her lips thinned and revealed all of her perfectly white teeth. Tony was as enchanted by her beauty as he was by her work. She smiled at him as he edged closer to her through the crowd. “Man of Iron, you hail from Midgard.”

Tony blinked and nodded. “Yep. That’s me. And you are?”

“Lorelei. I see much in your future and in your past. Yours is not an easy path. Tread it carefully, lest the one you love most be your downfall.”

Tony raised an eyebrow and glowered at her. “Sure thing, Lady. I’ll keep an eye on things.”

She pursed her lips. “You scoff, Man of Iron, but beware. Your husband is not what you think he is and he is not as he appears to be.”

Tony actually laughed then. “Lady, I know exactly how he appears in several of his skins and you have no idea what I think he is. Your tapestries are cool looking, but your advice sucks.”

The woman blinked and did not appear to know how to respond to that. Tony laughed again and wandered off, back toward the palace.

He was still wandering when Loki found him two hours later. “Where have you been?” His voice was cold and sharp.

Tony smiled, ignoring the tone. “It’s good to see you too. I’ve been roaming around the market. Met some woman who can weave dreams and a mute beggar who mimics and an alchemist. I didn’t even know those legit existed.”

Loki rolled his eyes, but his expression softened. “Indeed. The working of metals into gold and the creation of elixirs, in the way of your Taoists, is very important on Asgard, as we cannot mine gold here.”

Tony wrinkled his nose. “Really? That sucks. What do you need gold for anyway, though? You don’t use it for currency.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Of course, you would notice that. No, we do not base our economy on a gold standard as you do yours. We use it to mark certain types of warriors. My helmet is gold, as you may remember. I am a warrior magician, among other things, and thus I wear a gold helmet. Thor sports a silver helmet, in honor of his status in the court. He is the first warrior of Asgard, the best of us or so they say…”

Tony ingested this information for moment before he shrugged. “What were you looking for me for?”

Loki sighed. “Fandral wishes to meet with me and I would have you near for it. I do not trust his motives or his sudden contrition.”

Tony nodded and the two headed back to the palace proper. When they reached their rooms, Tony went on into the bedroom, leaving the door open a crack. Loki waited in the sitting room for Fandral. Tony hopped into this shower and thus missed the warrior’s arrival. When he went back into the bedroom to dress, he could hear voices coming from the living room.

“—you want from me?”

“Loki, you have always known what I feel for you. How could you be so cruel? To let me… muddle on, thinking…believing that you were like the rest of them?”

“No, Fandral. I had no idea that you felt this way. You never gave me any indication that you were interested in me in that manner. However, whatever you might have wanted with me, whatever feelings you harbour for me, nothing will come of it and you are best served by forgetting it. I am wedded.”

“And what of that? You are the God of Lies. You are Loki Silvertongue. Can you not deceive a mortal, a Midgardian?” The blond’s voice was thin with desperation. 

Tony could literally feel the temperature in the room drop several degrees. “Midgard is not Asgard. This was no arranged marriage. No political gambit. I married Anthony Stark because I love him. Nothing more, nothing less. Whether I am capable of lying to him is irrelevant. I will not do it. Not for you nor anyone. Do not ask that of me again, Fandral. You will not like the results. Had you spoken to me of this a century ago, things might be different now. I was in desperate need of…let us say tenderness then and would have done anything you asked, gladly, in exchange. I…I am not so broken and needy now. The piece of my…” There was a pause. “Tony has mended a piece of myself that I was unaware existed, much less that it was in need of mending. He…shatters me in one heartbeat and I am recreated in the next. Fandral, if you feel for me as you claim, if you have any tenderness for me at all, you will never ask anything like this of me again.”

There was a pause that lasted an excruciating several minutes. Then, Fandral spoke again. “I…yes. My apologies. I should never have spoken of it in the first place. I would make amends for this and for what I have done to you in the past, born of my own cowardice. Ask something of me and I will do it. Anything.”

Loki stood, if the slide of leather against leather was anything to go by. The sincerity was gone from his voice when he spoke. He sounded far away, calculating. Tony recognized that voice well. He almost felt bad for Fandral. “Stay. I will return in a moment. I may have a request for you after all. I remember how determined you were in our youth to make amends for even unnoticed wrongs.”

Footsteps echoed across the room and Tony quickly shuffled back, until he flopped down on the bed. He stared up at the ceiling until Loki’s face, hair swinging down on either side, broke his field of vision. He shattered Loki? Was that a good thing? He never intended to—

“Tony, Fandral is here and wishes to make amends for what he has done to me, as I am sure you heard. I think perhaps we can use this to our advantage. Should I tell him to keep an eye on Sif?”

Tony frowned. “Loki, why do you need me to give you permission? You’re much more…adept at this kind of shit than I am.”

Loki shook his head, still leaning over Tony. “I am…not as removed from the situation as might be desired. You are. I thought perhaps you might have a more unbiased opinion.”

Loki could see the concern in Tony’s eyes as he sat up. “Lover, this isn’t like you. This…lack of confidence. Maybe it’s the you from before Thor’s exile or something else entirely, but you aren’t yourself. Always be yourself. There is no way we’re in the kind of relationship where I give you permission for shit. Because, A, I won’t do it and, B, you don’t take that kind of shit, remember?”

Loki sighed and sat at Tony’s hip. Damn that man for being perceptive when Loki did not want him to be. “Tony, I…being here is uncomfortable for me. I dislike the effect it has on me and Fandral’s…admission has thrown me. I did not expect it and I do not welcome it. I have very little idea what to do with it. People do not pledge love to me. You are the only other one that has. I do not…understand how I am meant to handle this.”

Tony frowned. “No one else has told you they loved you?”

Loki shook his head. “No. Obviously, my mother and Thor have both told me they love me and…perhaps the Allfather did when I was small. I do not remember, but that is not the love I am talking about. Spousal love. The love that a man has for his wife or partner.”

“You were not a virgin when we fucked the first time, Loki. You can’t possibly tell me that of all the times you had sex before me, none of them was with someone you loved?”

“That is not what I am saying. I am saying that none of them was with someone who loved me.”

Tony stared at him, gaping like a fish, as though he could not possibly comprehend that. Loki glanced away, not willing to see pity in his husband’s eyes. Tony coughed dryly. “Well…um…Alright. So, you want to use it? What he feels for you? You’re okay with that?”

Loki pursed his lips. “Tony, remember to whom you are speaking. Of course, I am going to use it.”

Tony sighed. “Well, then… Manipulate. You’re very good at that. Pretend the situation was slightly different, that he was feeling…that…for someone else and move forward from there. Make sure he’s not just listening in on what is said, but as subtly as possible actually fishing for things, yeah? If you’re determined that is, which I guess you are and hey, that’s cool, if you’re dead set on it.”

Loki nodded and inhaled slowly. “Yes. Remove myself from the equation and it is merely like a hundred times before. Good. Thank you. Now, get dressed properly. There is an important dinner tonight. It is the anniversary of the day of Lady Sif’s birth, so far as anyone can tell or remember.”

Tony groaned and flopped back onto the bed. “Yes, Mother.” Loki raised an eyebrow at him. Tony bit back a comment and smiled obsequiously. 

Loki snorted and went back out into the living room. Tony sighed and sunk deeper into the mattress. Loki was acting oddly obviously unsure of himself, which was so far from normal Tony couldn’t even label it. He was actually seeking validation and reassurance that his actions were correct. Tony did not like what this place was doing to him. To both of them. Because, personally, Tony felt like he was going to start climbing the walls soon. This was getting way too fucking much. He had no tools, no computers, and no people that he could goad. He was of very little use in this spy-shit stuff. Natasha was best, obviously, but he sort of regretted not bringing Hawkeye along with him. He blew out a long breath. He needed to talk to Pepper. Pepper and Steve, actually. Maybe one of them would know how to fix whatever was wrong here and they did not seem to be getting anywhere fast with this. Maybe he and Loki could go back to Midgard, just for a day or two. Tony could grab some things to keep him occupied and they would both wind down from the constant tension that was making their sex-life a little more painful then usual (which, Tony conceded, was not a bad thing, but it really couldn’t carry on or one of them would probably end up with permanent damage of some sort).

Tony grinned at the thought. They could tell the Allfather that there was some kind of emergency with Stark Enterprises. He nodded to himself, feeling smug, and rose to change


	9. Chapter 8

Dinner was less a dinner and more of a buffet-style feast. There was much mingling, chatting, and offering of well-wishes. Tony and Loki stayed as far from Sif as they possibly could. Some time around midnight, Loki was carted off by Odin to speak with a visiting ambassador from some people or other that Tony paid no attention. Tony was left behind. There was no way Odin was going to explain to anyone who Tony was. 

Tony wandered around the…gathering? He was wary of calling it a party, even in his head, lest it somehow attract a group of minstrels. Tony realized very quickly after his arrival on Asgard that he did not like minstrels. They tended to take the things he said about Midgard…Earth…about earth and make them into ludicrous songs about mouse-pads and the like. Tony swallowed a sneer and pasted on his public smile. He was doubling back around when he bumped into a tall blonde woman with a killer body. She was wrapped in a long cloth-of-gold dress that Tony estimated contained enough of the precious metal to make his faceplate from the stuff. How the hell did she get that much gold on Asgard?

“Lord Stark.” She murmured in a low voice.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Just Tony, thanks. And you are?”

She smiled like a snake, Tony decided, and moved like a cat, which he thought was pretty damn poetic of him even if it was one hundred percent true. “Amora. It is lovely to finally meet you, Tony. I have so been looking forward to it.”

His other eyebrow rose to match the first. Damn, but she was trying too hard. Her body language and the tone of her voice screamed ‘fuck me’. “Yes, well. It’s nice to meet you as well. I was just looking for my husband.” He put a faint stress on the word. “Have you seen him? Loki?”

Her grin broadened and curled at the edges. “Not today, no. I do not mean to make you…uncomfortable. I only wished to tell you how much I admire you and the science of Midgard. Midgard is such an advanced planet. They have such high forms of everything and I almost envy you that. I have seen many places, but none as complex and progressive as Midgard. I have spent an extended amount of time away from this court and I have especially heard your name spoken. Normally, in hushed and reverent whispers. It is said that you can manufacture elements? That you created a new one to suit your own needs?”

Tony was genuinely taken aback by this. No one on Asgard, until that moment, had known him from Adam or even recognized any of his gadgets that he carried. There was no understanding in their eyes when they heard his answers to the questions they asked about things from Midgard. Even toasters seemed to baffle people supposedly eons more advanced, but who still made toast over an open fire on a stick (and not by choice). He had yet to encounter any non-Midgardian person who knew who he was. Even if this woman, who was now smiling at him from under her absurdly (probably fakely) long eyelashes, was only looking to get laid, she still knew who he was. He’d never mentioned the element for the arc reactor to an Asgardian, other than Thor, and he was pretty sure none of the rest of the team had either. Most of them probably didn’t care enough even to try to understand what he’d done, never mind tell other people about it.

“See, I genuinely want to believe you, because that would make this planet just a slightest bit less…underdeveloped, scientifically speaking, and would also be the coolest fucking thing to happen to me since I got here, but the vibe you’re throwing off does not read ‘You’re a really famous scientist-engineer and I am interested in your work’. What it actually reads is ‘I want you to fuck me hard’, which…sorry. Not going to happen.”

Amora blinked once, before throwing back her head and laughing. Tony glanced around, but no one seemed to notice. “You, Tony Stark, are most entertaining. I am an enchantress, something upon which Midgardians base their myths and legends about succubi and incubi. I cannot help what my body tells you. Though having you ‘fuck me hard’ would be most welcome, I do recognize that you are wed to a very powerful and very jealous man.”

Tony smirked. That was an interesting tidbit. “Loki’s jealous? I hadn’t noticed.” He shrugged. Tonight was not the time to see the extent of Loki’s jealousy and what it looked like. Tony imagined it was breathtaking to see. He’d absolutely try to arouse it when they were back on Midga…earth, where both of them were more comfortable and after this whole thing was over. 

She nodded. “From what I remember, very jealous. However, this is not about that. I do honestly wish to converse with you about your computers and the items made by your company.”

Tony smiled and tapped the arc reactor, a habit he really needed to break. “Sure. I’m all for tech talk.”

Amora smiled at him and he felt vaguely like he’d just agreed to way more that he thought he had, but he dismissed it. She reached out and grasped his forearm. “It really was lovely meeting you. I’ll find you soon for that chat.” She smiled, withdrew her hand, and disappeared back into the crowd. 

Tony frowned after her for a moment before going back to looking for Loki, who as it turned out was standing beside the throne with Odin, Thor, Frigga, and an athletic blond man Tony did not recognize. With his public smile in place, Tony sauntered up and slipped an arm around Loki’s waist. Loki smirked down at him. “Tony. I was wondering where you were, since nothing has exploded in the past hour or so.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Har. Har. Very funny. I don’t blow shit up anymore. You know that…okay, well. I don’t blow shit up for a living…nope, still not quite true. How about I don’t blow shit up that much?”

Loki conceded that point. “Tony, this is Apollo. Apollo, my husband, Tony Stark of Midgard.”

Apollo smiled broadly and reached out a hand for Tony to shake. “Well met, Tony Stark of Midgard. You have made an excellent match with this one. Loki is a good man.”

Loki’s face went blank, but Tony smiled a real smile this time. “That he is. But please, just Tony.”

“And you, Tony, I have heard your name before.”

Tony blinked. “Seriously?” That was the second person in ten fucking minutes. How was he intergalactically famous and didn’t know he was? “Naw…I mean…”

Apollo’s mouth curled up on one side. “Yes. Indeed, I have. You are whispered about as the man who can create matter itself.”

Tony blinked. “Oh! The element I created for the arc reactor. Well, needs must, I guess. It really wasn’t all that difficult.”

Apollo laughed, loud and long. Tony had the sensation of stepping away from his body and watching himself interact with Apollo the Sun God, Odin Allfather, Thor the Thunder God, and his husband Loki the God of Lies and Mischief. How is this possibly my life?

“Modesty in such a one as you is a rare gift.”

Loki snorted. “And one he rarely displays.”

Tony pinched his side discreetly. “I can be modest when I wanna be.”

“Mmmhmm.” Tony had never heard Loki make a noise like that before. He sounded…so human. It was disconcerting to say the least and Tony stared at him.

Apollo laughed again, a shorter and quieter version of his earlier guffaw. “Well, Loki, you are certainly able to pick an intriguing partner. You will never be bored with Tony Stark of Midgard.” He turned slightly, giving Tony and Loki a partial profile. “Odin, I would speak of the disturbances in the rebuilt Bifrost. Surtur is having problems, and the connection between our dimensions is becoming increasingly... well…concerning.” 

“Excuse me. Don’t want to be rude, but I need to borrow Loki for a moment. If you don’t need him right now.”

Loki frowned at him and the Allfather looked down his nose through narrowed eyes, but Tony smiled winningly and dragged Loki into a quiet corner. “I need to get the fuck out of here. I want to tell Odin that there is an emergency at the company and you and I need to go home for a couple days to take care of it.” Loki scowled. “No seriously, Loki. I need to get out of here before I start climbing the walls. There is nothing to do and running into Gods who know my fucking name…straw, camel, okay. No fucking lie.”

A flare of confusion flashed through Loki’s eyes at the mention of camels, but it disappeared immediately. “Why are you telling me this now? Tony, could this not have waited? Apollo…”

“Um, lover. First, Apollo is fucking gorgeous and eyeing you like a beef-steak, so stepping away? Good plan, according to my list of priorities. Second, groundwork, Loki. Groundwork. Just making things believable, because Odin is staring a hole in my back and your reaction’s been perfect.”

Loki rolled his eyes, but furrowed his brow. “The Allfather is not…Oh.” Loki glanced up to meet Odin’s eye. He was indeed staring intently at the two whispering men. Loki smirked and shuffled half a step closer. Odin scowled. 

“See?” Tony grinned. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll tell him, yeah?” 

Loki sighed, but did not look too upset, so Tony counted it as a win. His grin widened and his reached up to kiss Loki full on the mouth. The noise level in the room dropped abruptly. Loki stiffened, but somewhere behind Tony’s back Apollo cheered. Across the room, Natasha gave a wolf-whistle, so Tony flipped her off. He kept his hand on the back of Loki’s neck, keeping him in place, for a moment or two more. When he finally let go of the god and moved back, Loki was glowering at him. “What? I’m just reminding everybody that you’re mine.” The heat in Loki’s glare increased tenfold. “And that I’m yours. I find that people are less apt to hit on me if they realize that I’m on your arm.”

The glower vanished and Loki smirked for a moment. “Well played, Tony. I realize you just manipulated me, but it is true and I’d rather others understand that you are no available. So I will…as you say, ‘let it slide’.” Tony could almost hear the air-quotes around the final phrase. He gave Loki a shit-eating grin. Loki snorted. “I will go make our excuses to the Allfather. We will return to our rooms.”

Tony’s grin turned into a real smile for just a moment. That was the Loki he knew. Maybe it was just being back in Asgard that was throwing him off balance. Tony crossed his fingers. One could only hope.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many Apologies for my Butchery of Science here. Let's pretend it's all legit and I didn't bullshit form a wikipedia page for one part of it, yeah? Good. Sounds like a plan :D

The throne room, Tony thought, was always incredibly vast. It never got any smaller, with each time he entered it and he never got used to its size. His footsteps echoed loudly in his ears as he made his way across the room. Loki was at the far end, sitting next to Thor. Opposite them, the Warriors Three and Sif were listening attentively to whatever Odin was saying. Lurking behind the throne, Tony managed a single glimpse of Natasha before she disappeared. Tony stopped at the foot of the dais and waited to be acknowledged. 

It took only a moment before Odin noticed him. “Tony Stark of Midgard, have you something which you wish to present to this council?”

Tony had his public smile plastered across his face, so he suppressed a frown at the term council. If it was a council, then why was Loki here? “Actually, I figured I’d be courteous and inform you properly that Loki and I are going back to Midgard for several days. There’s been some kind of emergency with my company, Stark Enterprises, and we need to go back to take care of it.” He shot Thor a look that he hoped conveyed: shut the fuck up or I will end you. The big blonde didn’t say anything, so it must have worked.

Odin narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, but Sif beat him to it. She stood. “Allfather, I do not see why Loki needs to return to Midgard. He should not leave Asgard. Allowing him to returned to Midgard would—“

“Hang the fuck on, sister.” Tony swung around to look at her. “Loki can go where the fuck he pleases and you have absolutely no fucking say in it. Odin would not be allowing anything. Loki is a member of this diplomatic envoy to Asgard and an ambassador to Midgard. He is not claiming his right as an Aesir, in case his clothes didn’t tip you off enough. And there is the minor fact that I am not asking for permission. This isn’t a matter for any council to consider. I was merely informing you people of what is going to happen.”

Odin stood and glared down at Sif. She shrank back under the one-eyed gaze and retook her seat. “For once, Tony Stark is correct. My son is not here as an Aesir nor as part of the royal family. He is no longer under my rule by his own choice. He claims his status as a Midgardian representative and therefore I cannot dictate his actions. Even if I could, I see no reason to keep him here, should he wish to leave. As he is present, perhaps we should enquire as to his intentions?” There rebuke was there in his voice, even harsher than if he’d yelled because of its mildness. Odin turned to look at Loki.

Loki stood and bowed to the Allfather, before taking his place next to Tony. “Yes, Allfather. I am returning to Midgard with my husband.” His eyes smirked, though his mouth remained serious. Everyone knew of Odin’s distaste for the situation and his helplessness to do anything about it. He hated being reminded. “With my assistance, the problem with take a shorter time to clear, so that we may return here all the swifter.”

The Allfather nodded and glance briefly at Sif, who did not move from where she was glaring daggers at the couple. “So,” Tony broke the tension and brought everyone’s attention back to him. “We’re leaving this afternoon and we shouldn’t be gone more than three or four days at most. Natasha’ll stay here, as I’d bet will Thor.” Thor nodded.

Odin inclined his head graciously and the two men bowed back. Tony and Loki turned then and left the hall. Thy weren’t packing anything, so they went directly to the Bifrost. Loki teleported them to Avenger’s Tower in New York when they landed. Steve was in Tony’s kitchen when they appeared in the center of the living room. He jumped nearly a foot in the air, dropped a glass so it shattered on the floor, and made a strangled noise. “Holy crap! Tony, Loki, a little warning next time?”

Tony raised an eyebrow and moved to sit at the island. “For appearing in our own rooms where no one is supposed to be since we were in Asgard?”

Steve flushed brightly. “Um… Well…Pepper is sort of in a snit and I…well, it was empty and I didn’t think you’d mind. I didn’t stay here or anything. I’m just using the stove.”

Tony laughed. “No biggie. Really. Just teasing. But holy fuck the joys of technology. Helloooo Jarvis!”

“It is good to have you back, sir. When you are gone, most people forget I am here.”

Tony pouted and Steve looked guilty. “Aw, poor Jarvis! Got lonely with me, did you? Well, we’re back for a few days. Asgard was driving me insane. There is nothing to do!” 

“Sir, are you aware that there is a foreign magical signature attached to Mr. Starks’ person.”

Tony frowned. “Mr. Stark…Jarvis…”

“I believe it was referring to me, Tony.” Loki’s voice was dry and his eyebrow was inching toward his hairline. 

“You…oh. Yeah. Good call. Um…wait, magical signature? Like not his own? Which, by the way, Loki, we logged it during the rounds of tests we did.”

Loki smirked. “I was aware. Jarvis, what does this signature tell you?” His voice was amused and light, but Tony heard an undertone.

“I do not recognize it, Mr. Stark, but it appears to have something attached to it. In a language I cannot translate. Might I suggest running scans of Mr. Stark’s person as soon as possible?”

Tony nodded absently and glanced at Steve, who was looking worried. “I’ll get Pepper and Bruce up here. Clint’s out on assignment for S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Tony sighed. “Of course, he is. Yeah, especially send up Brucie.”

Tony felt worry twist in his gut as he herded Loki to the stairs. The two made their way up to the workshop. So much for relaxing from all the tension. The people they were…fighting against? Plotting against? Trying to deduce? Whatever. Were obviously amping it up, if they were targeting Loki so directly and with magic. The punishment before had been direct, but subtler. This was less detectable, but it might give them more of an idea about what their next move would be. Knowing what this person’s play was would help them try to derail it. Tony had a brief flash back to Natasha interrogating Loki in the glass cell. “Banner? That’s you play?” She’d asked. Tony swallowed thickly. Loki in Asgard was like Bruce in a pressurized, sealed container. Not a good idea, especially if there was some kind of magic altering him somehow. Tony wondered briefly is this was what was causing Loki’s odd behavior.

Loki’s hand reaching out and grabbing his altered Tony that he was tapping the arc reactor again. “Tony. Relax. We will figure out what this magic is and I will end it. There is a chance that if I am able to make the magic manifest itself, I could identify the caster. Some magicians leave behind a very distinct signature, like a stamp. Jarvis was correct it calling it that. I tend to leave one behind when I cast anything complex. I cannot help it and I do not know if there is even a way to stop, but the more complex the magic, the more likely there will be a signature.”

Tony exhaled slowly and then grinned. “Right. Good. Okay, so we get the signature to show and you lead us to the culprit. We are detectives. Who gets to be Sherlock?”

Loki’s mouth curled up at the levity, but he played along. “I have seen that programs. The man who plays Sherlock is quite handsome, but Watson is significantly shorter that his flatmate. You must be Watson and I will be Sherlock.”

Tony looked affronted, as they entered the lab and the lights went on. “Huh! Just ‘cause I’m short, I have to be the sidekick? I’ll wear heels if I have to!” He paused to think about it. “Though, you really would make a much better Sherlock. And yes, Benedict Cumberbatch is sexy as hell.” He pressed a few buttons and brought up the research they’d done into Loki’s magic onto the screen. “So, how do we do this?”

Loki shrugged and sat on the edge of Tony’s desk. “I should think that you would know more about it than I would.”

Tony looked at the ceiling for a moment. His hands flexed on the arms of the chair he had plopped down in. “Yeah. Okay, so how about we just do a set of simple scans first, like before. We can get a handle on the mixed magic so I can set the computer to ignore your own magic and focus entirely on the foreign stuff.”

Loki nodded and pulled off his sweater. The t-shirt and cotton slacks he was wearing that day were thin enough not to produce interference. If Bruce hadn’t been about to arrive at any minute, Tony would have made Loki strip naked for these scans. As it was, he really didn’t care for Bruce or Pepper ogling his husband. Whether they actually would have or not was entirely irrelevant in Tony’s mind.

They were halfway through that first set of scans, when Bruce and Pepper appeared in the doorway with Steve towering over them from behind. 

“Tony, why are you back so soon? Where’s Thor? What’s wrong with Loki? Steve wouldn’t say.” Bruce murmured, shooting a glance at the god as he took the corner Loki had vacated.

“Foreign magic. Something was off in Asgard. Loki was acting oddly and the lack of tech was driving me batty. Shut up, Pepper. Way more insane than I usually am.” Pepper shut her mouth and grinned. “I thought coming back home for a bit would set things right, but instead Jarvis informed us that Loki’s got someone else’s magic on him. We’re trying to isolate it and figure out whose it is.”

Bruce nodded. Pepper and Steve went and sat on the couch to watch and listen. “Have you checked him for Gamma? Could it be like the Tesseract?”

Tony sucked in a sharp breath. “I did not even think of that. Brucie, my friend, this is why I keep you around.” Tony swung back to the computer screens. “Jarvis?”

“Already scanning, Sir. There appears at present to be no evidence of Gamma radiation or emission. There is no evidence of a renewed connection to the Tesseract.”

Tony breathed out a sigh of relief. Loki snorted. “I would have reassured you of that, had you asked me instead of the AI. I remember what it felt like to be free of the Tesseract and so I remember what it felt like not to be free. I feel no different than I normally do, though perhaps more uncertain as to my course of action in a general sort of way.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Loki, lover, you asked me permission to manipulate someone. I’d say that is a little more than uncertain.”

Loki sneered at him, but said nothing. Bruce looked concerned. “So no Tesseract. This is a new kind of control-magic? That we’ve never seen before than?”

“So it would seem.” Loki drawled. “But there is a distinct chance that I have seen it. If I could actually see it, which is what Tony should be attempting to do right now. There was something there blocking me from recognizing it and I think perhaps Tony may be able to…poke the magic with his scanners, so that I can identify it.”

Tony clucked his tongue, but appeared otherwise not to have heard. He was staring at the screens intently. He poked a few things as everyone else watched. His fingers flew over the keys for a moment, before he turned to Bruce and began rattling for numbers so fast that no one else could follow. 

The two spoke very fast to each other. Loki seemed to be the only one even remotely capable of following their conversation, but even he did not appear to be paying attention. Twenty minutes of computer work and calculations later, Bruce and Tony had isolated the foreign magic and separated the signature from the magic itself, so that Loki could look at the spell without having to untangle it from who cast it.

“Looks like we’ve got it,” Tony said as he brought the image of the magic up on the holographic screen and Loki came over to examine it, pulling his shirt back on as he walked. He wrinkled his nose. 

“This means nothing to me. Your scans produce pretty pictures on your computer screen, but they do not translate into anything that I can interpret.”

Tony scowled. “Well, there’s very little I can do about that. I don’t know how you use your magic so I can’t translate…” He trailed off, his scowl softening into a frown. Bruce opened his mouth to speak. Tony pointed a finger in his face sharply and his jaw snapped shut.

They sat watching Tony think for a couple minutes, before his eyes lit up and he shooed Loki back into the scanning space. “Jarvis, the radiation readings look relatively low. As in, non-toxic, yeah?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hmm…” Tony chewed his lip. “Guys, how’s about you go…over behind that glass wall there? No need to endanger any ovaries or any little swimmers. Actually, I really have no idea how radiation would effect Steve or Bruce, so.” He smiled winningly at them.

Pepper looked incredibly worried, but they all went. “Sweet deal. Jarvis, can we produce that level of beta radiation?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Give me five minutes and then expose Loki to it for…fifteen seconds, I think should be a good starter.” He spun in his chair to face Loki. “Lover, take off the shirt. You wearing boxers today?” Loki raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Off with those too. Beta radiation can be stopped by plastic or metal and with the amount of metal that tends to be on your person, I’d rather not take chances. I don’t really want to play with this shit for longer than I have to.”

Loki’s expression didn’t change, but he refused to look away from Tony as he stripped to his boxers. His attention, however, was entirely focused on the group behind the glass. Tony tried to smile reassuringly, but his gaze kept dropping to where the black silk boxers rode low on Loki’s narrow hips.

“Are you prepared, sir?” Jarvis asked, pulling Tony’s attention away from his nearly-naked spouse.

“Yep, Jarv. Shoot.”

A thin red line appeared across Loki’s forehead, where the beta-radiation laser touched his skin. Loki closed his eyes as it passed over his face, but opened them again to watch it slide down his body. It reached his feet and disappeared. 

“Again, Jarvis.”

This time is started at the bottom. As it passed Loki’s navel, Tony glanced up to his face. A second passed. Then Loki’s entire body went taught, like a strung bow. His eyes turned solid black, not unlike Clint’s had down when the Tesseract was taking control of his mind. Tony sucked in a sharp breath. Loki’s head rolled back on his neck. He looked like he might start seizing. “Cut it. Cut it. Jarvis, for fuck’s sake!”

The laser disappeared. Loki collapsed. Tony was at his side almost before he hit the ground. The others hurried it, but Loki had not fallen unconscious. “Stay back. I…I am…attempting to….control the…reaction. Stay. Back. Tony…go…back.” 

Tony laughed. It was bitter and dark. “Not on your life, lover. Talk to me. What’s happening?”

“The…radiation triggered…the spell’s failsafe…I am trying…to contain it.” Several very tense minutes passed. The only sound in the lab was Loki’s labored breathing.

Finally, he seemed to get control of whatever had happened. He sighed and relaxed in Tony’s arms. He took four or five deep breaths before speaking. “It is a compulsion, but I do not know what it is for. I am being compelled to act or not to act in some fashion.” Loki frowned deeply and sat up. “I do not recognize the magician, which is odd. I have encountered most the great magicians in the Nine Realms and in…well, Apollo’s dimension as well, but I cannot place this. His or her magic feels…unusual and not entirely…It is difficult to explain it, but it feels as though the cast was not…a person.”

Pepper choked. “Hang on. You met Apollo, as in the Greek god of the sun?”

Tony laughed softly. “Yep. I met him too. He knew who I was, actually. Recognized my name.” Everyone laughed, except Loki. Tony raised an eyebrow and sucked his teeth.

Loki rolled his eyes. “He speaks the truth, for once. Apollo knew him as the man who creates matter.”

Pepper blinked. “Seriously? Tony’s famous in a different dimension? That’s insane. We will never be able to live with him after this. I thought he had a big ego before…” She was clearly trying to dissipate the tension.

Tony played along, giving Loki’s some time to order his thoughts. He swung his head around so he could glare at her. “Right here, you know. I can hear you. And honestly, it’s just freaky and also not important. All of this is besides the point. Loki, the compulsion. Can you break it?” Loki shot him an incredulous look. “Right. Stupid question. Give me a few minutes to save this whole…experience in the system before you get rid of it.”

Loki shook his head and stood to replace his clothing. “Take your time. It will take several hours to remove the compulsion and I do not relish the process. It is…not pleasant.” He looked mildly surprised at the admission. 

Steve shot him a look, brow furrowed. “Alright. So, besides this. Did you find out anything while you were away? Where’re Natasha and Thor?”

Tony was ignoring them again in favor of banging away on his keyboard, so Loki answered. “Both Avengers are still at the court in Asgard. This…person…has been suspiciously quiet while we were in Asgard. I am…concerned about what their next move will be and what this compulsion is meant to do.”

Bruce crossed his arms and then reached up to rub his fingers over his lip. They waited. “What if the compulsion was meant to be found? Did they know you were leaving? Because it could be a distraction tactic.”

Loki shook his head. “No one knew we were leaving until we announced it to Odin and left.”

Tony interrupted, but did not remove his attention from the computer. “Loki’s been acting a little off since almost the day we arrived there. The compulsion is not a diversion. Especially given Sif’s reaction to Loki’s leaving. I think she realized that if we both came back here, the compulsion would be discovered. We didn’t have the equipment to notice it on Asgard and I’d assume there is something in it that would prevent Loki from figuring it out himself.”

Loki frowned at him for a moment. “Yes…Sif was most adamant that I remain in Asgard. However, she does not have the magic required to create something like this. Nor is that her signature. She actually does not have enough magic to leave behind a signature at all.”

Tony turned and grinned at him. “It seems we’ve got our first clue as to who is running this show.”

Loki smirked. “Finally.”

Steve was frowning. “So you’re going back once the compulsion is gone?”

Tony shook his head. “Not quite. We’ll stick around for a few days. I plan to bask in tech for at least two days before we go back. I’m taking as much with me as possible.”

Bruce laughed. “What could possible work on Asgard?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Tools, my friend. Tools and materials to build things.” 

Everyone laughed. Loki rolled his eyes. “Tony, if you blow up Asgard…actually, never mind. Blow up Asgard.” He turned to Bruce. “Help him pack the most explosive equipment that you can, but make sure there is some kind of device to detonate it from afar. I would rather he not blow up himself as well.”

Tony laughed and stood to sling an arm around Loki’s waist. “It’s fine, lover. I won’t kill anyone. I won’t even maim or permanently injure anyone, myself included. I promise. Well…until we figure out who is doing this. Then, I’m making no promised.”

Loki smiled. “Good.” The smile faded quickly and he pulled away.

Tony’s brow furrowed lightly and he sighed. “Right. We’ll leave you to it then? Come down to the kitchen when you’re ready?”

Loki nodded and the group left him alone in the lab.


End file.
